ALFRED IN THE CHRONICLERS

EDWARD CONYBEARE.

Price 76m

OPINIONS OF THE PRESS.

" We have here the best book which could have been written of Alfred the Truth-teller .... an ideal
book for a historical student, because Mr. Contbeare has set himself to give, in good plain English, all
the notable early authorities for the life of King Alfred extracted from the chroniclers, and presented
side by side, with due explanations and uross-references. The extracts number fourteen, and their
sources are as follows, the original text being in Latin when not otherwise indicated : — Asser, ' The
Deeds of Alfred ' ; the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, in Old English ; the ' Chronicles ' of Eethelwerd; Simeon
of Durham's ' Deeds of the English Kings ' ; William of Malmesbury's ' History of the Kings'; Henry
of Huntingdon's 'Histories of the English'; Florence of Worcester's 'Chronicles'; Geoffry Gaimar's
'L'Estorie des Engles,' in Old French ; Koger of Weudover's ' Flowers of Histories' ; John of Wallingford's
'Chronicles of the English'; John of Brompton's 'Chronicle'; Ingulfs (interpolated) 'History of
Crowland ' ; the Book of Hyde ; and the Chronicle of St. Neot's.

" Prom these texts, Mr. Contbeabe has taken all that relates directly to Alfred, with so much
more as serves to illustrate and characterize his time. To the^e hundred and fifty pages of authentic
narrative we would send all who can read history, all who can lend themselves to the quiet and
straightforward record of the Chroniclers, not merely for their o%vn entertainment, but as a training for
the historical taste and instinct.

" Prefixed to the documents which we have mentioned, the reader will find an admirable ' Introductory
Sketch' of eighty pages, in which Mr. Conybeare .... shows us how our English conception of the life
and work of the Anglian King has been built up on the early English histories, and he adds to the lifelike
(jualities of the picture by describing and quoting from Alfred's written works." — Educational Times.

" The volume bears witness on every page of the laborious research needed for such an under-
taking ; but the result repays the labour. All students of Anglo-Saxon and mediaeval history should
welcome the book, especially in view of the approaching Millenary Celebration of the King's
death." — Bookman .

"A worthy monument to the memory of the king who deservedly became 'the people's darling." —
The Tablet.

" The student of Alfred will get his information from no more reliable source, and in no handier
or more readable form." — Pall Mall Gazette.

"Whatever Mr. Contbeare does is well done, and his books have this happy characteristic,

that they are eminently readable Mr. Contbeare's 'Introductory Sketch' (80 pages) is an

admirable ' Life and Works ' in brief Alfred when we know him, as we may do from the

book before us, stands out conspicuous. — Literary World.'

"An admirable essay in history, fresh with the freshness and full with the fulness of a perfect
knowledge of the data. ... It appears opportunely when the millenary celebration of Alfred's death
is fully in mind. There could be no better guide to a true knowledge of the king and his times
for readers who desire to form their own impressions and to think out his career for themselves." —
Aberdeen Free Press.

" Alfred in the Chroniclers," is a distinctly good book, an invaluable contribution to the litera-
ture of a great historic subject." — Leeds Mercury.

Those who are preparing to celebrate the one-thousandth anniversary of the death of King
Alfred, could not have provided for them a better manual than this."— The Weekly Register.

"Mr. CoNYEEAEE givos, in a clear and scholarly form, a new translation of the great King's
biography by Asser, his friend and chaplain, and adds, with explanatory notes, passages relating to

his reign from the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle and the leading Mediaeval authorities and the

volume also contains an elaborate sketch of Alfred's place in history .... impressive no less than
valuable." — The Standard.

"Mr. CoNYEEAEE has prepared a highly readable and most engrossing history .... A large
amount of very little known information of surpassing interest— especially at present — is given
for the first time. The work is splendidly arranged and tabulated, is very freely and lucidly noted
upon, and is further excellently printed and bound .... Students cannot afford to be without
this complete and unique volume." — The Western Mercury.

" Among the memorials of the King Alfred millenary celebrations, this volume, to the general
reader, ought to be one of the most valuable and the most welcome. Prefaced with an introductory
biographical sketch of the famous Anglo-Saxon king, it contains a translation of all the passages
in the chronicles which constitute the original .luthorities for the events of his life and reign. . . . The
translations in all cases have been irade afresh, and in the. instances where a scrap of verse had
to be rendered, the translator .... shows a quite respectable metrical skill. The introductory
biography, filling some 80 pages, is a thorough and careful piece of work, digesting in critical
and yet most readable fashion the results of the latest historical research on the subject."
—Glasgiiui Herald.

" Mr. Contbeaee's collection of authorities, edited and translated, will be found a very useful
hand-book for those who desire to follow the national commemoration of King Alfred. . . . The
translations are good .... successful in finding the appropriate note of simplicity and vigour.

An ' introductory sketch ' is prefixed, which is, indeed, a very full life, covering some eighty
pages. . . . Mr. Conybeare has produced a striking portrait of Alfred, alike as a boy at Winchester
and Rome, fair of face and eager of mood ; as a warrior, charging ' with the rush of a wild boar '
up the hill at Aescendune ; and as King, harassed and worn with pain and trouble, but never
losing the winning charm of an entirely beaxitiful soul." — Literature.

"A brightly-written account founded on the life of Alfred by Asser, the Anglo-Saxon
Chronicles, and on later writings like those, of Henry of Huntingdon, Simeon of Durham, and
Roger of Wendover. "We admii-e the skill with which Mr. Conybeare has put together the
mosaic of scattered references and alliisions, so that the result is a lucid, pleasant and continuous
narrative. Only one who has himself laboured at the corrupt and crabbed Latin of Ethelwerd,
or adventured in the ' Estorie des Engles ' of Master Geoffrey Gaimar, can know the fulness of
gratitude which is due to the able translations in the book before us." — The Daily Chronicle.

"Mr. Contbeaee's book is manifestly a labour of love: .... It forms a valuable addition to
our limited number of accessible 'source-books' of English History; and it should be serviceable
to all those students, whether teachers or learners, who find it difBcult to form a clear and life-like
idea of old English times from the necessarily condensed accounts in our current text-books"
University Correspondent.

" On the twenty-sixth of October next .... we shall keep the thousandth death-day of the best
and greatest king that ever sat on the throne of England— Alfred, England's darling. In view of this
momentous anniversary, it has occurred to Mr. Conybeaee to bring togelher all that the chroniclers have
left on record of Alfred's life and reign, from Asser, his friend and chaplain, to annals like the Book of
Hyde, of, at least, four hundred years later date. We thus obtain the portrait of our national hero as ho
is represented in the pages of the earliest chroniclers, together with the added touches preserved in the
memorials of later writers. From these antique sources, Mr. Conybeare himself draws up an intro-
ductory biographical 'sketch,' which, in its picturesque telling and historical accuracy, forms a fitting
prelude to the whole." — Bookseller.

"A work of good, sound English scholarship. The editor .... has extracted the Alfrediau
passages from the mediaval writers; above all, he has given us all an accurate and scholarly

3

translation of Asser's inestimable life of his patron and friend. The contributions of each chronicler
is prefaced with a note as to his dat3 and credentials, and accompanied by brief and wise notes.
These extracts form Part II. of the work; Part I. consists of the thirteen chapters in which Mr.
Oontbeaee has set his own sketch of the career and character of the greatest of Anglo-Saxon
Princes. This strikes us as a worthy addition, illumined by the most modern lights of ci-itical
scholarship and archseology, to the list of biographies hitherto produced. . . . Any lover of Alfred will
do well to study him closely in this careful and scholarly book." — Antiquary.

" Mr. Conybeare has made accessible all the Queiien of the life of the great Saxon king. . . .
His workmanship throughout Is careful, scholarly, and void of pedantry."— JSii-nting/tam Post.

" A task well performed .... all the main facts and leading characteristics of the King and
his times In well-ordered sequence. The flowing narrative admirably sums up the old writers." —

Public Opinion.
" Both erudite and entertaining." — Outlook.

" Of great value not only to the student but also to the general reader." — London Letter.

" Readable and coherent .... an excellent and hfe-llke portrait of the hero." — Scotsman.

" Mr. Conybeare succeeds admirably .... In its focussing of facts and romantic chronicling
the book serves as an admirable epitome of the great Saxon Monarch." — Western Morning News.

"Alike pleasant for perusal and convenient for reference."— Camtri'dge Chronicle.

"A useful piece of work . . . both instructive and entertaining." — Athenaum.

"X most important historical work .... The amount of research entailed, it is needless even to
refer to."— Ci(y Press.

" A valuable addition to the literature dealing with the hero-king .... very carefully
prepared . . . thoroughly well edited . . . attractive and readable. A most excellent and unosten-
tatious piece of work." — Record.

ELLIOT STOCK, 62, Paternoster Row, London, E.G.

J'RICE 7/6

ALFRED IN THE

CHRONICLERS,

BY

EDWARD CONYBEARE.

OPINIONS OF THE PRESS.

' "The work is one of importance .... an admirable essaj' in
history .... tresh with the freshness and full with the fulness of a
perfect knowledge of the data." — Aberdeen free Press.

" The most clear and finished account we have ever had, or are
likely to have, of this hero-king. All students . . . must welcome this
hook." — Bookman.

■'A scholarly little volume .... The student of Alfred will get his
information from no more reliable source, and in no handier or more
readable form." — I'all Mall Gazette.

"Whatever Mr. ConybEarE does is well done, and his books
have this happy characteristic that they are eminently readable ....
The introductory sketch is an admirable ' Life and Works ' in brief." —
Literary World.

"Those who are preparing to celebrate the millenary of King
Alfred could not have a better manual than this." — Weekly /Register.

" Mr. C0NYBE.4RE has made accessible all the Quellen of the life
of the great Saxon king .... His workmanship throughout is
careful, scholarly, and void of pedantry." — Birmingham Post.

" .\ task well performed .... all the main facts and leading
characteristics of the King and his times in well-ordered sequence.
The flowing narrative admirably sums up the old writers." —

Public Opinion

" Both erudite and entertaining." — Outlook.

[P.T.O.

" Of great value not only to the student but also to the general
reader." — London Letter.

" A thorough and careful piece of work, digesting in critical and
yet most readable fashion the results of the latest historical research."
— Glasgow Herald.

"Readable and coherent .... an excellent and life-like portrait
of the hero." — Scotsman.

"Mr. CONYBEARE succeeds admirably .... In its focussing of
facts and romantic chronicling the book serves as an admirable epitome
of the great Saxon M.on&rch."— Western Morning News.

" A highly readable and engrossing histor}-. . . . Students cannot
aiford to be without this complete and unique volume." —

Public Opinion.

"Alike pleasant for perusal and convenient for reference." —

Cambridge Chronicle.

" A nseful piece of work . . . both instructive and entertaining.'
— AthencEutn.

" The best book that could have been written for the millenium of
Alfred the Truth-teller." — Educational Times.

" A \er}' useful handbook for those who desire to follow the na-
tional commemoration of King Wix&A.'" —Literature,

" Picturesque telling, and historical acc\\r?i(ir ."" —Bookseller.

" A most important historical work . . . , The amount of research
entailed, it is needless even to refer to."— C/)' Press.

" A worthy memorial to one of the greatest, and certainly the
best, of English Kings." — H'ester/i A/ercu/y.

" A valuable addition to the literature dealing with the hero-
king .... very carefully prepared . . . thoroughly well edited . . .
attractive and readable. A most excellent and unostentatious piece
of work." — /Record.

N.B.— The Athenasutn calls attention to the following misprints :

Page 44 nwsde for ncefde, page 44 sor (or for, page I2()icesire for 7t'fstra.

ELLIOT STOCK, 62, Paternoster Row, London, E.C

Alfred in the Chroniclers

ALFRED

in the Chroniclers

BY

EDWARD CONYBEARE, M.A.

Author of
'A History of Cambridgeshire,' 'La Morte d'Arthur," etc.

LONDON :
ELLIOT STOCK, 62, PATERNOSTER ROW, E.G.

1900.

IC

TO.

- ^

iUQIES

^^ 90

PREFACE.

I DESIRE in the following pages to present to English
readers in a popular and readable form the early au-
thorities for the life of King Alfred of England, which,
interesting as they are, are for the most part scarcely known,
save to professed students of history, and are in some cases
hard to come by.

I give, accordingly, in full, his biography by Asser, his
friend and chaplain, and such entries as relate to his reign in
the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle and the leading mediaeval his-
torians— Ethelwerd, Florence of Worcester, Henry of Hunt-
ingdon, William of Malmesbury, Simeon of Durham, Geoffry
Gaimar, Roger of Wendover, etc.

In each case I have made a new translation from the original,
and have endeavoured, as far as possible, in my selections
from each writer, to confine myself to such events as are
narrated by him alone, or with some special colouring of his
own ; for each, as a matter of course, made the freest use of
the work of his predecessors, and almost invariably without
one syllable of acknowledgment. But each adds his own
touches to the story — touches which may well be founded on
some floating tradition still surviving to his day. 1 have also
prefixed to each a few words of critical notice, and, when
needful, a table of contents.

The Introductory Sketch will, I hope, show how the in-
formation derived from these various sources combines into an

VI

Preface

authentic picture of our hero-King. And this picture I would
fain make yet more life-like by the extracts given from his
own literary works, his laws, and the beautiful ' Proverbs
of Alfred,' which record far-off echoes of his traditional
wisdom.

EDWARD CONYBEARE.
Cambridge,

26 October^ 1899.

CONTENTS.

PART I.
INTRODUCTORY SKETCH.

CHAPTER I.

PAGE

Celtic and Teutonic ideals — Arthur and Alfred — Scope of the present work
— English settlement of Britain — Gradual unification — Marks — Kinglets
— Bretwaldas — Church of England — Bede's forecast - - - i

CHAPTER n.

Earliest Danish troubles — The Heptarchy — Egbert, first King of the English

— Egbert and Charlemagne — Defiance of Roman claim to Britain - 5

CHAPTER ni.

Danish invasions renewed — Sack of London — Battle of Ockley — First Danish
settlements — Rail of 870— St. Edmund — Invasion of Wessex — Alfred
succeeds to the throne - - - - - - - 10

CHAPTER IV.

Early life of Alfred — His claim to the throne — Designation by Pope Leo —
Saracen sack of Rome — Alfred at Rome — Judith, his stepmother —
Devout childhood and youth — Friendship with St. Neot — Marriage —
Alfred's ' thorn in the flesh ' -

CHAPTER V.

14

Outset of Alfred's reign — The nine battles of 871 — Wessex cleared of Danes
--Their settlements elsewhere — Alfred's early reforms — His wondrous
versatility ........ 20

CHAPTER VI.

Great Danish inroad of 876 — Siege of Wareham — Capture of Exeter — Danish
fleet destroyed at Swanage — Alfred the founder of our navy — Danes at
Chippenham — Wessex wholly overrun — Alfred unpopular — Danish
massacres — x\lfred in Athelney — His jewel - - - - 25

CHAPTER VII.

Danish defeat in Devon — The Majic Standard — Rising of Wessex —
Decisive battle of Ethandune — Surrender of Chippenham — Baptism of
Guthrum — Peace of Wedmore — Its results — Alfred's restoration of
London - - ■ n |C\ ■ ■ ■ "33

viii Contents

CHAPTER VIII.

PAGE

Subsequent Danish wars — Great invasion of 893 — Military genius of Alfred
—Campaigns of 894, 895, 896 — Battle of Farnham — Danes at Chester
— Danish fleet taken — Alfred's ships - • - - - 40

CHAPTER IX.

i-Many-sided greatness of Alfred — His educational reforms — Status of clergy

— Asser — Alfred's handbook - - - - - '45

CHAPTER X.

Alfred's publications — ' The Consolations of Boethius ' — Bede's ' History of
the Anglican Church ' — Orosius' ' History of the World ' — Its purpose
— * Flowrets from St. Augustine' — Gregory's 'Pastoral Care' - - 51

CHAPTER XI.

Alfred and Rome — Alms to Jerusalem and India — Home charities — Alfred's

devotional life — His lantern - - - - - "59

CHAPTER XII.

Alfred's laws — The Witan — His introduction to the code — Offences against
the person — Against property — Dog's first bite — Sanctuary — Statutory
holidays — Observance of Sunday — 'Church-scot' - - * 63

CHAPTER XIII.

Death of Alfred — Encomiums of chroniclers — His burial — The ' Proverbs of

Alfred ' — His work completed by his children - - - - 7'

PART 11.

EXTRACTS P^ROM THE CHRONICLERS, WTPH
PREFATORY NOTICES.

I. Asser :' Of THE Deeds OF Alfred '['De iELFREDi REBUS GESTis 'J 83

II. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle . . . . . 120

III. Ethelwerd's Chronicles [Chronica] .... 132

IV. Simeon OF Durham: 'Deeds of the English Kings' ['Historia

DE GESTIS ReGUM AnGLORUM '] - - - - - I44

V. William of Malmesbury : ' History of the Kings ' [' Historia

Regum '] - - - - - - - - 161

VI. Henry of Huntingdon : * History of the English ' [* Histori/e

Anglorum ']-..---- 167

VII. P'lorence of Worcester's Chronicle [Chronicon] - - 173

VIII. Geoffry Gaimar: 'The Story of the English' ['L'Estorie

DES EnGLES'] ..----- 177

IX. Roger of Wendover : 'Flowers of History' ['Flores His-

toriarum '] - - - - - - - - 182

X. John of Wallingford : ' Chronicles of the English '

[' Chronica Anglorum '] ------ 189

XI. John of Bromfton's Chronicle [Chronicon] - - -195

XII. 'Ingulf': 'History of Crowland ' . . . . 207

XIII. The Book of Hyde ...... 216

XIV. Chronicle of the Church of St. Neot [' Fani Scti. Neoti

Chronicon '], or ' The Annals of Asser ' - - - 224

N.B. — The whole of the above were originally written in Latin, with the
exception of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, which is in Old English, and Gaimar,
who wrote in French.

CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE.

45°-
477.

English History.

First Saxon settlement in Britain.
Ella of Sussex Bretwalda.

560. Ceawlin of Wessex Bretwalda.

593. Ethelbert of Kent Bretwalda.

597. St. Augustine's Mission to England.

616. Redwald of East Anglia Bretwalda.

617. Edwin of Northumbria Bretwalda.

634. Oswald of Northumbria Bretwalda.

642. Oswy of Northumbria Bretwalda.

658. Theodore, Archbishop of Canterbury.

688. Ina, King of Wessex.

731. Bede's History ends.

755. Offa King of Mercia.

777. Mercian conquest of Wessex.

787. First Danish inroad.

794. Danish raid on Northumbria.

800. Egbert King of Wessex.

823. Battle of Ellandune.

Egbert lord of South England.
827. Egbert Bretwalda and ' King of the
English.'

832. Danish inroads renewed.

833. Danish raid on Dorset.

835. Danish raid on Cornwall.

836. Ethelwulf King of Wessex and Over-

lord of England.
Athelstan [St. Neot] King of Kent.

A.D. Contemporary History.
410. Capture of Rome by Alaric.

St. Augustine writes.

Orosius writes.

500. Theodoric King of Italy.
520. Boethius writes.

590. St. Gregory Pope.

622. Mahomet.

700. [?] English school at Rome

founded.
711. Saracen conquest of Spain.

732. Battle of Tours.

800. Charlemagne Emperor.
814. Louis the Pious Emperor.
817. Partition of the Empire.

829. Second partition.

X

Chro7iological Table

A.u. English History.

837. Danish raid on Hampshire.
83S. Danish raid along East Coast.

839. Danish raid on Kent.

840. Danish raid on Devon.
Battle of Charmouth.

845. Danish raid on Somerset.
Battle of Pedredan.

849. Alfred born.

851. Danes first winter here (in Thanet).

Sack of Canterbury and London.

Battles of Wembury, Sandwich, and
Ockley.

Ethelbald King of Kent.
853. Ethelwulf subdues Wales.

Alfred sent to Rome.
855. Danes winter in Sheppey.

Ethelwulf's tithing and pilgrimage to
Rome.

He marries Judith, and becomes King of
Kent.

Ethelbald King of Wessex.
857. Death of Ethelwulf.

860. Ethelbert King.

Danish raid on Winchester.

861. Death of St. Swithun.
Alfred learns to read.

865. Danes harry East Kent

866. Danes settle in East Anglia.
Ethelred King.

867. Danes take York.

868. Danes take Nottingham.
Alfred's marriage.

870. Great Danish raid.

Sack of Crowland, Peterborough, etc.
Battle of Thetford.
Death of St. Edmund.

871. Danes invade Wessex.

Battles of Englefield, Reading, Ashdown,

Basing and Merton.
Death of Ethelred.
Accession of Alfred.
Battle of Wilton. Danes leave Wessex.

872. Danes in London.

873. Danes in Lindesey.

874. Danes conquer Mercia.

875. Danes on the Tyne and at Cambridge.
First English naval victory.

876. Danes rush Wareham and Exeter.
Danish fleet destroyed at Swanage.

A.D. Contemporary History.

838. Third partition of the
Empire.

843. Fourth partition. Charles
the Bald King of France.

846. Saracens sack Rome.

847. Leo IV. Pope.

English school burnt down.

858. Nicolas L Pope.

861. Photian schism. Eastern
churches cut off from
Rome.

867. Adrian II. Pope.

872. John VIII. Pope.

875. Charles (the Bald) Emperor.

876. Rollo settles in Normandy.

877. Louis (the Stammerer) Em-

peror.

Chronological Table

XI

A.D. English History.

878. Danes at Gloucester and Chippenham.
Alfred in Athelney.

English victory at Kinwith.
Decisive battle of Ethandune.
Baptism of Guthrum.
Peace of Wedmore.

879. Danes at Cirencester and Fulham.
Eclipse of sun.

880. Danes settle in East Anglia, or leave

England.

882. Sea-fight with Danes.

883. Alfred's mission to India.

884. Asser joins Alfred.

885. Danes attack Rochester.
Sea-fights at Stourmouth.

886. Alfred restores London.

England.

890. Death of Guthrum.

Overlord of

893-
894.

895.
896.

897.

Danes return to England. Hasting.
Danes defeated at Farnham, Beamfleet,

Buttington, and Chester.
Danes defeated at Chichester.
Danish fleet captured in Lea.
Danes defeated at Bridgenorth.
Danish host breaks up.

898. Danish pirates put down by Alfred's navy.
900 [?]. Death of Alfred.

A.u. CONTEMBORARY HiSTORY.

879. Louis HI. King of France.

880. Danes invade Flanders.

882. Marinus Pope.

883. Danes at Conde.

884. Danes at Amiens. Charles

(the Fat) Emperor.
Adrian HL Pope.

885. Stephen VI. Pope.

886. Danes besiege Paris.

887. Danes at Chezy.
Arnulf Emperor.

890. Danesdefeated in Britanny.

891. Formosus Pope.

896. Boniface VI. Pope.

897. Stephen VII. Pope.
Romanus Pope.

898. Theodorus II. Pope.
John IX. Pope.

900. Benedict IV. Pope.

ERRATA.

Page vii., line 20, for " Majic " read " Magic."

Page 2, line 13,/^^ " five" read "four."

Page 16, line T^for "eldest son " read •' son and heir."

Page 17, line 14, for " long " read " some."

Page 27, line 2^, for " seven " read *' one of their."

Page 44, footnote, T^r *' Noesde " read '* Nsesde."

Page 60, footnote, T^r " Normandy" read " Britanny."

Page 95, line 2^, for " Willy " read " Wily."

Page 120, line iS, for " April " read " March."

Page 122, line 2y,for " Medeshampstead " read " Medehampstead."

Page 151, line iy,for " propagnucla " read " propugnacula. "

Page 159, line 27, for " and land " read " land and."

Page 178, line 10, for '* lost" read ** last."

Page 193, line 22, for "[rumours]" read ^^[rumores]."

Page 226, line 34, for '• wordly " read " worldly."

ALFRED IN THE CHRONICLERS

PART I.
INTRODUCTORY SKETCH.

CHAPTER I.

Celtic and Teutonic ideals — Arthur and Alfred — Scope of the present
work — English settlement of Britain — Gradual unification — Marks
— Kinglets— Bretwaldas — Church of England — Bede's forecast.

T

I. ■^ I "^ HROUGH the mist of long-past ages, two heroic
names shine out as the special glory of our island,
each the peculiar possession of one of the two
branches of the Aryan family whose fusion has made Britain
what it is. The Celtic ideal has embodied itself in the
character of Arthur, the Teutonic in that of Alfred. And
it is characteristic of the genius of the two races, that while
the individuality of Arthur, as expressed in Cymric legend, is
almost wholly mythical, that of Alfred, as handed down by
Anglo-Saxon story, is almost entirely historical.

§ 2. ' He is a singular instance,' says Mr. Freeman, 'of a
prince who has become a hero of romance; who, as a hero of
romance, has had countless imaginary exploits and imaginary
institutions attributed to him, but to whose character romance
has done no more than justice^ and who appears in exactly
the same light in history and in fable. No other man on

I

Alfred in the CJironiclers

record has ever so thoroughly united all the virtues, both of
the ruler and the private man. ... A saint without super-
stition, a scholar without ostentation, a warrior all whose
wars were fought in defence of his country, a conqueror
whose laurels were never stained with cruelty, a prince
never cast down by adversity, never lifted up to insolence in
the hour of triumph — there is no other name in history to
compare with his.'

§ 3. In the ensuing pages it is my object to set before my
readers the original authorities on which this eloquent pane-
gyric is grounded, to show Alfred as he lives in the pages of
the early chroniclers, from his own friend and contemporary,
Asser, to John of Wallingford, five centuries later. Each
succeeding writer echoes those who came before, but almost
every one adds his own touches to the story of his hero —
touches which may perhaps be invention, but which also may,
with at least equal probability, embody some floating tradition
founded en historic fact.

§ 4. But in order to appreciate the lofty character thus
delineated for us, we must have a clear conception of the
extraordinary and appalling crisis of our history through
which Alfred steered the fortunes of England. Never was
nation nearer to utter shipwreck, never was the civilization of
any land nearer being whelmed, hopelessly and for ever,
beneath the inrushing deluge of barbarism, than when the
helm was guided by his hand.

§ 5. That crisis was the outcome of a long series of events.
Our Anglo-Saxon forefathers had been now for 400 years
the inhabiters of Britain. Four centuries had passed

' Since from the East hither
Angle and Saxon
Sped to this shore,
Over the broad brine,
Britain beseeking :
War-smiths wight, they
The Welsh overcame :
Earls ever-bold, they
The land made their own.'

Song of BrunaJtburgh.

Introductory Sketch

% 6. And during that period they had been gradually laying
aside the savage ferocity which marked their first onslaught,
and which kept them in perpetual warfare not only with the
Britons, whose land they were seizing, but amongst each
other. At their first settlement the dwellers in each ' mark '
(or parish) regarded every stranger entering their bounds as
an enemy. But the impulse to coalition made itself felt
almost at once, and ever more strongly as time passed on.
Mark joined with mark under local kinglets (' proceres,' as
Henry of Huntingdon calls them) whose sway embraced a
whole district ; the solidarity of each separate horde of in-
vaders reasserted itself under a common chief, sometimes (as
in the case of the West Saxons) the actual descendant of the
original captain who led them across the sea, sometimes
(as in that of the East Angles) merely the most prominent
amongst the kinglets of the tribe. And ever and anon there
rose into power, now from one tribe, now from another, one
of those ' Bretwaldas ' whom the popular voice informally ac-
claimed (by a play upon the word) as the * Wielder of Britain,'
the quasi-Emperor to whom every tribe owed a vague but far
from merely nominal allegiance.

§ 7. The idea thus suggested of a common Sovereign and
a common political organization for the whole land became
fixed by the manner in which the conversion of the English
to Christianity developed itself. The loosely-knit system of
the Celtic missionaries, whose preaching produced so vast an
effect at first, could not, for all their fervour, hold its own in
the English mission-field against the compacter energies of
their earlier Roman rivals. The * Italian Mission' triumphed,
and every baptized Englishman found himself the subject of
a world-wide and straitly-ruled spiritual kingdom, whose
claims to his allegiance were held to override every local and
every racial distinction. And not only so, but, by the dis-
position of the earthly Head of that kingdom, the Potentate
whom he recognised as beyond all others, ' the Vicar of
Christ,'^ he was further knit up with his fellow-countrymen
in a narrower local bond which yet embraced all of his tongue
and kindred. The ideal with which Gregory the Great sent
^ The title was sometimes applied to a temporal sovereign.

Alfred in the Chroniclers

forth Augustine, of a united British Church, including the
whole island, and subject, under the Pope, to the Archbishop
of Canterbury, was, indeed, never fully carried out ; but that
of Pope Hadrian, two generations later, of a united Aiiglica7i
Church, was not entrusted in vain to the genius of Theodore
of Tarsus, Archbishop of Canterbury 66% to 690, * the first
Archbishop,' as Bede tells us, * whom the whole English
Church obeyed.' Thenceforward every Englishman was a
member of the Church of England. Clergy from every
kingdom of the Heptarchy met in synod for common counsel
and common regulation of their ecclesiastical interests, thus
paving the way for a like solidarity of the realm in political
affairs also.

§ 8. And with the spread of Christianity the bitterness of
intertribal war was immensely softened. The shedding of
Christian blood was looked upon as no light matter, and
warfare more and more tended, not only to be less deadly,
but to cease altogether. When, in 731, Bede concluded his
* Ecclesiastical History of the English Nation,' he thus depicts
the striking progress of civilizing influences: 'The Picts have
now made a treaty of peace with the English nation, and
rejoice in being united in Catholic peace and truth with the
Church Universal. The Scots that dwell in Britain,^ content
with their own bounds, neither plot nor conspire more against
the English. The Britons, though they for the most part hate
all English folk, and wrongfully, from wicked use, oppose the
appointed Easter of the Catholic Church,^ yet can in no way
prevail as they would, the power of God and of man alike
letting them. For though in part they are their own masters,
yet in part also are they under English sway. Such being the
peaceful and calm state of the times, many lay aside their
weapons, and incline ... to monastic vows rather than . . .
soldiership. What will be the end hereof the next age will
show.'

^ The Scots migrated from Ireland in the sixth century A.D., and settled in
Galloway. The Picts held all the land north of the Forth.

- The Celtic Christians merely differed as to astronomical minutiic from the
Catholic reckoning ; but these often involved considerable practical divergence in
the date of any given Easter. The Picts and Scots renounced these errors in 701,
at the instance of Adamnan ; but the Britons (Welsh) long persisted in them.

CHAPTER II.

Earliest Danish troubles— The Heptarchy — Egbert, first King of the
English — Egbert and Charlemagne — Defiance of Roman claim to
Britain.

^ I.

v\

THEN Bede penned his forecast, he doubtless

expected * the next age ' to perpetuate and
develop the Christian civilization which gave
so bright a promise. The event was different indeed ; for it
turned out to be the age of the last great inroad of Northern
barbarians from which Christendom has suffered. Wildly-
ferocious swarms of heathen pirates, arriving in never-ending
succession from the inlets of Norway and Denmark, brought
back to Britain all the horrors of the Saxon invasion, and made
such havoc that the outlook grew dark and darker. Their
black barks were first seen in 'jZ'j, when, as the Anglo-Saxon
Chronicle narrates: 'This year . . . first came three ships of
the Northmen, out of Haeretha-land [Norway]. And then
the Reve [Sheriff] rode to the place, and would have driven
them to the King's town, because he knew not what men
they were. And then and there did they slay him. These
were the first ships of Danish men that sought the land of
Angle-kin.'^

§ 2. Again, in 794, after * dire forewarnings over the land,
mighty whirlwinds and thunderbolts and fiery dragons flying
through the air,' we read that, ' on the 6th of the Ides of
January [January 8] heathen' raiders full piteously wasted
God's Church at Lindisfarne, with rapine and slaughter.'

§ 3. This expedition was crushed the following year by

^ This was the earliest name for England.

Alfred in the Clu^oniclers

aid of a tempest which cast away the pirates on the Northum-
brian coast, and the daunted freebooters made no further
attempt on our shores for a generation. And that genera-
tion witnessed, just in time, the long-delayed unification of
England. Of the seven kingdoms which made up the so-
called Heptarchy, three were Saxon. Two of these, Essex
and Sussex, yet keep their old name and their old boundaries,
as counties ; the third, Wessex, took in all the rest of the
island (save Kent and Cornwall) south of the Thames. Three
more were Anglian : Northumberland, from the Forth to the
Humber, and from the Pennine Hills to the North Sea ;
Mercia, from the Humber to the Thames, and to the Welsh
border ; and East Anglia, containing Norfolk and Suffolk.
And one, Kent, belonged to the earliest of all the English
settlers, the Jutes.

§ 4. In the incessant strife always bickering amongst these
kingdoms, Wessex early absorbed Sussex and Kent. Essex,
in like manner, was annexed by East Anglia, and both East
Anglia and Wessex became for awhile subject to Mercia.
But the wonderful year 800, which saw the coronation of
Charlemagne as Emperor at Rome, witnessed at Kingston-
on-Thames a humbler ceremony, which was destined to bring
about yet more momentous results. On the ancient corona-
tion stone of the West Saxon monarchs, still to be seen in
Kingston Market-place, did Egbert, ' the uniter of the Hep-
tarchy,' the grandfather of Alfred, take his seat (after three
years' exile, at Mercian instance, in France) as King of
Wessex.

§ 5. Little did those who took part in the acclamations
which greeted him imagine that this tributary monarch of a
few counties, occupying his position only by the sufferance of
his Mercian overlord, was to be the founder of an empire
destined to outlast that of the great Charles, and to extend
its bounds incomparably further than his ! Yet so it was.
This petty under-King of the West Saxons worked his own
way to be ' King of the English.' Three generations more,
and his descendants were Emperors of Britain '} nor have

^ This dignity was first attained by Edward, the heroic son of Alfred, in 924,
and culminated in the coronation of Edward's great grandson, Edgar the Peaceful,
as ' Basileus '" of Britain, 973.

I lit ro dice tor y Sketch

the imperial claims of the British Crown ever been wholly
lost sight of since. The imperial style, constantly adopted
by our monarchs, is not, as is often thought, a mere turgid
form of self-glorification, but expresses a historical and
political claim of no small importance — the repudiation of
the pretensions of Rome to political dominion in our island.^
Nor is it by any mere figure of speech that we now speak
of the British ' Empire.' For a dominion uniting under its
suzerainty regions in every part of the earth, connected with
it by ties of every degree of closeness, from the Channel
Islands to the Transvaal, corresponds more nearly to the
original idea connoted by the word * empire ' than anything
the world has seen since classical days.

§ 6. Such are the mighty consequences springing from the
coronation of Egbert. Their first manifestation was, how-
ever, long in showing itself. Egbert, a statesman of no
mean order, gave at first that highest proof of statesmanship
— he knew how to wait. For twenty-three years he bided
his time, and then suddenly shook off the Mercian yoke. One
great victory (at EUandune)^ over the midland forces sufficed.
Not only was Wessex freed, but the whole Saxon Name.
' The South Saxons, and the East Saxons, and the men of
Kent and they of Surrey, came in unto him, for erst had they
been wrongly forced from his kin. And the same year did
the King of the East Angles and his folk seek wardship
from King Egbert for dread of the Mercians.'

§ 7. An attempt by the Mercians to regain their conquests
led to the defeat and death of their King, Beornwulf, leaving
the kingdom so weakened that, in 827, Egbert was able to
subdue it, thus uniting under his sceptre all England south
of the Humber. He was now acclaimed Bretwalda, the first
Bretwalda since Oswy of Northumberland in 642.

§ 8. This assumption of an almost obsolete title is a striking
proof of Egbert's statecraft. The name had been unheard for
nearly two centuries, and the last three monarchs who bore

^ So the statutes of 1534 : ' This realm of England is an Empire . . . governed
by one Supreme Head . . . having the dignity and royal estate of the Imperial
Crown.'

- Probably EUingham, in South-west Hampshire.

8 Alfred in tJie Chronicle^^s

it had all been Kings of Northumbria. To the dominion of
a King of Wessex the Northumbrians would never have sub-
mitted without a desperate struggle, which might well have
tried Egbert's newly-built edifice of power beyond its strength.
But when, as Bretwalda, he claimed their allegiance, and
backed his claim by appearing with his full force on their
border, they dared not resist.

§ 9. Had Charlemagne been still alive it might well have
been otherwise. For his claims, as Roman Emperor, to the
old Roman dominion over Britain had been acknowledged by
the Northumbrian Princes^ in their dread of subjection to
the nearer power of Mercia. And even the great Offa, the
rhost powerful of all the Mercian Kings, had not dared to
violate the frontiers of the new Caesar, though himself re-
fusing to bow to him. An appeal for protection to their
Augustus would almost certainly have brought a Roman
army to the defence of the Northumbrians so long as Charle-
magne was Roman Emperor. But Charlemagne was gone ;
the new Western Empire was divided amongst his worthless
grandsons, and such outlying fragments as Northumbria had
no chance of aid from any of them. The very fact that
Egbert had ventured to call himself by a title which implied
a claim to dominion over all Britain was in itself a defiance
of the imperial counter-claim — a defiance which it was suffi-
ciently plain that the imperial authorities were in no case to
take up.

§ 10. Thus, without a battle, Egbert added Northumbria
to his dominions, and now at last, in 828, took the new and
loftier title, * King of the English. '^ No contemporary knew
him as ' King of England,' for that name for our land did
not come into use till the eleventh century,^ and the title was
first assumed by Canute. Our earlier monarchs derived their

^ This is found in Eginhard, the biographer of Charlemagne, a.d. 808. See
Palgrave, 'English Commonwealth,' i. 484, and Freeman, 'Norman Conquest,'

i. 599-

2 In a charter of this year he first appears as ' Ecgberhtus gratia Dei Anglorum
Rex' (Kemble, ' Cod. Dip.,' i. 287).

3 The earlier name (see p. 6) was Anglekin. From the first invasion of Britain,
if not earlier, our Teutonic forefathers (whether Angles, Saxons or Jutes) knew
their race as a whole by the Anglian name. To the Britons, on the other hand,
they were all alike ' .Saxons,' as we still find in the Welsh and Gaelic * Sassenach.'

Introductory Sketch 9

only territorial designations from their imperial sway over
the whole island. Their charters describe them as *Monarchus
totius Britanniae,' ' totius Albionis Archon,' ' Britanniarum
Rex,' but in speaking of their kingship over their own kins-
folk it is always ' Anglo-Saxonum Rex,' * Gentis Angligenae
Rex,' and such-like racial designations.

§ II. Nevertheless, Egbert was, to all intents and pur-
poses, King of England, and England was at last a single
realm, able to confront, as a united whole, the coming
tempest of the Scandinavian invasions. It was but just in
time. Only four years later, in 832, the Danes came back,
and from thence onward their attacks became unremitting.

mirwjiri'ilin iii'i ii|iirilli'ilii'jiii']iLPiiii'ini-ri]»'iiLi-i]i['T.]wiirllln,iiT.ii[ii'<MrM,.wiii.i].iii inni-iiirTin^iii'ini i-iiii.iiinin.mnij

CHAPTER III.

Danish invasions renewed — Sack^of London — Battle of Ockley — First
Danish settlements — Raid of 870 — St. Edmund — Invasion of Wessex
— Alfred succeeds to the throne.

T

§ I. ^ ¥ ^ HE Viking attacks at first were mere plundering
raids. Summer after summer saw a Danish fleet
— a * summer-lead,' as it was called — cross the
North Sea, to ravage one district or another, never far inland,
sometimes to be defeated, sometimes not, but in either event
to make off, after an inroad of a few weeks, with their booty.
The incomparably superior mobility of sea-borne troops as
compared with land forces enabled them to choose their own
point of attack, and, ere the hastily-summoned English levies
could reach them, to pounce upon some undefended spot, or
more than one, in quite another direction. Henry of Hunt-
ingdon graphically describes the demoralizing effect of these
tactics upon the English armies :

§ 2. ' Wonder was it, how, when the English Kings were
hasting to meet them in the East, ere they could come up
with their bands, a breathless scout would run in, saying,
*' Sir King, whither marchest thou? The heathen have landed
in the South, a countless fleet. Towns and hamlets are in
flames, fire and slaughter on every side." Yea, and that very
day another would come running : " Sir King, why with-
drawest thou ? A fearsome host has come to shore in the
West. If ye face them not speedily, they will hold that ye
flee, and will be on your rear with fire and sword." Again on
the morrow would dash up yet another, saying, " What place
make ye for, noble chieftains ? In the North have the Danes

hitroductory Sketch 1 1

made a raid. Already have they burnt your dwellings. Even
now are they sweeping^ off your goods, tossing your babes on
their spear-points, dishonouring your wives, and haling them to
captivity." Bewildered by such various tidings of bitter woe,
both Kings and people lost heart and strength, both of mind
and body, and were utterly cast down.'

§ 3. So things went on for twenty years, during which eight
of these miserable summers, with their rapid, rushing invasions,
are recorded, and then comes a further step. In 851 we meet
in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle with the ominous entry: 'This
year did the heathen folk, for the first time, bide over winter.'

§ 4. This was in the island of Thanet, the first permanent
abode of the Anglo-Saxon invaders 400 years earlier. Both
Danes and English seem to have realized the significance of
this fact. The former were encouraged to reinforce their
pioneers the next year by no fewer than 350 ships, ten times
the average number of a Danish marauding expedition, and
the greatness of the peril roused the English to a desperate
effort of defence, which proved successful. The Danish crews,
leaving their great mass of vessels at the mouth of the Thames,
stormed first Canterbury, and then London — the only time in
history that our Metropolis has ever been taken by assault —
and then poured southward across Surrey. With the whole
West Saxon force, Ethelwulf,^ the son and successor of
Egbert, and the father of Alfred, met them at Ockley, in
their march along the ancient ' Stane Street ' through the
Weald. And there, beneath the old oak-trees ^ of the Sussex
forest, * made they the greatest slaughter among the heathen
host that ever we heard tell of, even unto this day, and
there gat they the victory.'^ * The warriors fell like corn in
harvest . . . and God vouchsafed the victory to His faithful.'^
* Thus that self-same day did the Christians win a glorious
victory. And they held the battle-stead ; with hymns and
praises giving thanks to God.'^ To 'hold the battle-stead '
or ' the death-stead * {wealh-stowe), i.e., to be in final posses-

^ An interesting relic of this King may be seen in the medal-room of the British
Museum — a peculiarly-shaped gold ring with the word Exhelwlf {sic) on a ground
of blue enamel.

^ Ockley = Oak Lea. ^ A.S. Chronicle.

■* Henry of Huntingdon. ° Simeon of Durham.

12 Alfred in the Chroniclers

si'on of the field of battle, was, amongst the Anglo-Saxons,
the accepted phrase for gaining the victory. So we still speak
of winning \hQ field.

§ 5. This was, however, but a momentary respite. The
Danish raids continued, and in 855 the invaders again
wintered in the land, this time in the island of Sheppey.
In 860 *a mighty ship-host came to land and stormed Win-
chester,' and from this date onwards we read of ' the host ' of
the Danes. They were henceforth always somewhere in the
land, and more and more tended to form permanent settle-
ments within its borders.

§ 6. The first of these was in East Anglia, a district in that
day almost insular in character, accessible (from a military
point of view) by but one narrow strip of down between the
Cambridgeshire fens and the primeval forest which crowned
the * East Anglian heights.' And this strip, along which ran
the Icknield Street, the ancient warpath of the British Iceni
(the clan of Boadicea), was defended across its whole breadth,
at this date, by two great ramparts — the Fleam Dyke, near
Cambridge, and the wellknown Devil's Dyke, near New-
market.

§ 7. East Anglia thus formed a secure base for the sea-
rovers, where * their wives, their ships, and their wealth '
could safely be left while they ravaged elsewhere. And their
ravages were no longer confined to the sea-board of England.
In ?)66 'they were horsed' (though whence they got all their
horses in a land where these animals v\^ere commonly used
neither for war nor husbandry is a most puzzling question),
and burst forth from their East Anglian fastness for a four
years' campaign through the very heart of the country. York
fell, and Nottingham, and Peterborough, and Ely ; Edmund,
the saintly King of East Anglia, who had endeavoured, as it
would seem, to raise a diversion in the rear of the pirates so
soon as they left his realm, was defeated and martyred ; and
in 871 the Danes crossed the Thames at Reading, 'rushing
like a torrent and carrying all before them,' and poured with
their whole force into Wessex itself.

§ 8. This year first brings Alfred upon the scene. First
along with his brother, King Ethelred, who died in the thick

Introductory Sketch

of the struggle, then as King himself, he met the invaders
in no fewer than nine pitched battles (besides innumerable
skirmishes, 'which are not counted,' as the chronicler naively
says), during this single year. The fortunes of the war changed
from week to week ; but finally the Danes, in spite of the
arrival of a fresh * summer-lead ' to their aid, found it well
to retire beyond the Thames, leaving the newly-crowned
monarch a few years' breathing-space in his devastated
realm.

CHAPTER IV.

Early life of Alfred — His claim to the throne — Designation by Pope Leo
— Saracen sack of Rome — Alfred at Rome — Judith, his stepmother
— Devout childhood and youth — Friendship with St. Neot — Mar-
riage— Alfred's ' thorn in the flesh.'

"A

§ I. y% LFRED was at his accession twenty- two years of
age. Born in 849 at Wantage, in Berkshire, the
youngest of a band of five brothers, he speedily
showed himself to be the flower of the flock. ' Beloved was
he, by both father and mother alike, with a great love,
beyond all his brethren ; yea, and the darling of all. As he
grew on stature, both in childhood and boyhood, so showed
he ever fairer in form than any one of them, and in looks,
and words, and ways the lovesomest.'^ * Bright was his face,
so that all men marked it, and bright his talk.'^ ' From his
very cradle, above all, his own high-souled temper and high
birth bred in him a longing after Wisdom. But, alas ! through
the carelessness of his up-bringers, he abode even unto his
twelfth year, unable so much as to say his letters. Yet learnt
he by heart many a Saxon lay ; for day and night would he
hear them repeated by others, and no dull listener was he.
A keen huntsman also ; ever at work on woodcraft, and to
good purpose. For peerless was he in the hunting-field, ever
the first and ever the luckiest; in this, as in all else, supremely
gifted by God.'^

§ 2. As the cadet of the family, it might have been thought
that he had little prospect of the Crown. But the English
throne was not yet strictly hereditary. The appointment was

^ Asser, § 26.

2 Simeon of Durham.

Asser, § 26.

Introductory Sketch 15

by the popular voice, and any member of the royal house
might thus be acclaimed King. Nevertheless, to pass over
the actual heir-apparept was unusual, and seems to have re-
quired some apology. It was done in Alfred's case, and his
disappointed nephew, Kthelwald Clito, lived to give trouble
a generation later, while the story ran that Alfred's claim
had been authorized by the great Pope Leo IV., while he was
yet a child. The tale, if true, is interesting as an early
example of the Papal claim to supersede unworthy monarchs.

§ 3. For the situation arose thus. After Ethelwulf had
crushed the Danes at Ockley, he made munificent thank-
offerings to God, * even to the tenth of all he possessed,' ' and
established the same wont throughout all his realms.' Having
thus formally established the system of ecclesiastical tithe —
previously a loose and floating ideal in the Church of
England — he finally went on pilgrimage to Rome, whither
he had already sent his youngest and best-beloved son,
Alfred, then six years of age.^ Amongst the Anglo-Saxons,
infancy was computed to end with this year, and the rite of
Confirmation was usually administered. Alfred thus received
this Sacrament at the hands of the Pope himself, the Holy
See being at this time held by Leo IV., the fortifier of the
' Leonine City,'^ the deliverer of Rome from the Saracens,
whose galleys were to Italy the same ghastly, ever-present
horror which those of the Danes were to England. At this
date the Mediterranean was practically a Saracen lake : its
eastern, western, and southern shores were held by them ;
every large island within it was in their hands, and in 846
they had sacked Rome itself. When Alfred arrived there,
the traces of this raid must still have been sadly perceptible
in many a ruined church and desecrated shrine.

§ 4. While on his Roman pilgrimage, Ethelwulf committed
the senile folly of marrying a girl of thirteen — Judith, the
brilliant, precocious, unprincipled daughter of Charles the
Bald, King of France. This was a sad come-down from his

' Both Asser and the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle say he took Alfred with him, yet
also both send Alfred to Rome two years earlier, in 853, and give his Confirma-
tion and royal consecration under both dates.

- The trans-Tiberine region of Rome, including the Vatican, is still known by
this name.

1 6 Alfred in the Chroniclers

first wife, Osburga, a true English lady, worthy to be the
mother of Alfred, * deeply devout, and keen of wit withal ;
great of heart, as high in place.'^ Leaving Alfred, as it
would seem, at Rome, he returned with his bride to England,
only to find public opinion so outraged by his wedding a
foreign child, and giving her (in defiance of West Saxon
custom) the title of Oueen,^ that his eldest son, a wicked
young man named Ethelbald, was all but able to organize a
successful usurpation. Matters were patched up ; but when,
two years later, Ethelwulf died, Ethelbald seized not only
his father's sceptre, but his father's widow. And, according
to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, it was on the news of this in-
cestuous union reaching Rome that Leo * hallowed Alfred to
King.'

§ 5. For the time, however, nothing came of it. Ethelbald
retained his throne, and continued to live with Judith as his
wife, while Alfred quietly returned to England, not as a Pre-
tender, but as his brother's subject, to have his marvellously
many-sided intellect developed, according to the well-known
tale,^ by his youthful stepmother, with whom he seems to
have continued in most fraternal relations, notwithstanding
her exceedingly equivocal position.

§ 6. Yet Alfred himself was far from being an evil-liver in
his youth. His early visit to Rome, with all its holy recol-
lections— the lamps burning before the shrines of the Apostles
at his father's charge/ the English School^ rebuilt by his
father's devotion, his own special intercourse with the * Uni-
versal Apostolic Pontiff' — had left an indelible stamp on his
spiritual being. The spell of Rome was upon him.

§ 7. As soon as ever he could read, at twelve years of
age, he made it his first task to learn by heart ' The Daily
Course ; that is, the Services of the Hours,' so as to be able
to take part in the sevenfold scheme of daily devotion set
forth in the Breviary of the Catholic Church.^ His next

1 Asser, § 16. - Ibid., § 4.

^ Ibid.., § 27. On the incompatibility of the tale with the chronology of Alfred's
life, see note there. But it probably is founded on the fact that he really owed
much to Judith's instruction.

* Asser, § 28. ° See Appendix A.

* The word ' Breviary ' is not found before the time of Ilildebrand, but the
system can be traced to the earliest days of the Church.

Introductory Sketch 1 7

was to commit to memory in like manner 'certain psalms
and prayers, written out together in a little book which he
bare day and night in his bosom ... to aid his devotions
amid the stress and strain of his life.'^

§ 8. And from the first he set himself to ^ keep under his
body and bring it into subjection.' To this end, in the fervour
of enthusiastic boyhood, * oft would he rise in the morn at
cock-crovVj and go to pray in the churches and before the
relics of the saints. There would he prostrate himself on
the ground, and pray that God in His mercy would stablish
his heart yet more in His service by some infirmity, such as
he might bear, but not such as would render him imbecile
and unequal to his work in this world.' His prayers 'after
long time ' were heard, and he became subject * from his
childhood onwards ' to a painful and mysterious ailment,
which aided him to keep in check the temptations of youth,
and to counteract whatever there might be of evil in the
influence of Judith.

§ 9. And when he was yet but seventeen that influence
disappeared from his life, and was succeeded by one very
different. Judith, after six years' widowhood, was, in Ztj,
married for the third time, while yet only twenty-five, to
Baldwin Bras-de-fer, Count of Flanders. And simultaneously
with her departure from England we first find mention of
Alfred's devotion to St. Neot.

§ 10. The individuality of this saint has been a matter of
some controversy ; but the most probable conclusion is that
he was none other than Alfred's own eldest brother, Athel-
stane, vv^ho in 851 renounced the Crown of Kent (then the
usual appanage of the heir-apparent of Wessex),^ and betook
himself to religion at Glastonbury. After seven years there,
he went on to Rome, and on his return presided over an
abbey of his own in Cornwall, and seems, until his death in
876, to have been the most special friend and counsellor of
Alfred. And he remained the object of unforgotten re-
verence, not only to Alfred himself, but to his heroic son and

1 Asser, § 28.

^ In the A.S. Chronicle we find him King of Kent in the earlier entries for
851, but his brother Ethelbald in the later.

1 8 Alfred in the Chroniclers

daughter. When the latter deh'vered Mercia from the yoke
of the Danes, she called by his name one of the fortress
towns which she founded on the Ouse to keep them in check,
St. Neot's; and the former christened after this sainted uncle
his own eldest son, Athelstane, afterwards Athelstane ' the
Magnificent,' the mighty King of the English and Emperor
of Britain.

§ II. By his counsel, presumably, Alfred, on his betrothal
(at nineteen) to a Mercian lady of high degree, prayed that the
Lord would change his ' thorn in the flesh ' for some other
malady, as effectual, but less grievously incapacitating. His
prayer was heard — his early complaint vexed him no more ;
but on the very day of his wedding he was seized by an
access of ghastly pain, so that all the wedding-guests were
filled with wonder and pity. ' Many thought that this came
through the malice of the devil, who ever grudgeth at the
good ;' but the general opinion held it to be due to the evil
influence [' favore et fascinatione '] of the admiring looks bent
from all sides upon the bridegroom ; in accordance with the
primitive popular superstition (found in every part of the
world, and still surviving even amongst English rustics), that
overadmiration is ' unlucky ' for a young person. None,
save Alfred and his sainted brother, dreamt that it was indeed
a sign of God's favour — His answer to the victim's own
prayer. The attack soon passed ; but from that hour forward
until the day of his death Alfred was never secure from its
recurrence, and a constant prey to the depression it left
behind. Again and again it tormented him, ' and if ever, by
God's mercy, he was relieved for a single day or night, yet the
fear and dread of that horrible pain never left him, but made
him almost useless, in his own thought, for every duty either
to God or man.'

§ 12. Such was Alfred when, at twenty-two, he found
himself called to the throne in the most desperate case that
ever King knew. We may well believe, with Asser, that it
was with the greatest reluctance that he accepted the place to
which he had so long before been anointed, and which was
now his ' by the grant of God and the goodwill of the land-
folk, one and all.' He might have had it, adds the biographer,

Iiitroditctory Sketch 19

before this, * and that by the assent of all men,' for all that
he was the youngest of his family ; * seeing that both in
wisdom, and eke in all good ways, was he better than all
his brethren put together.' But with characteristic meekness
he waited his turn, and even now took up the regal duties in
humble diffidence. ' For it seemed unto him that never
might he, all alone, without one brother to aid, endure so
grievous a stress and strain.' But with indomitable courage
he set himself to overcome at once his own physical infirmity
and the overwhelming onset of the heathen hosts. How
nobly, how miraculously, he succeeded in achieving both
conquests his subsequent annals relate.

2 — 2

'"*- '^ ^^I^TTTT

CHAPTER V.

Outset of Alfred's reign — The nine battles of 871 — Wessex cleared of
Danes — Their settlements elsewhere— Alfred's early reforms — His
wondrous versatility.

T

§ I. ^ W "^ HE first and extremest need was to clear
Wessex of the Danes. The kingdom was all
but at the last gasp. The heathen ' host ' had
entered the land with the vernal equinox, and entrenched
themselves at Reading. Within a week they had fought
one battle at Englefield with the English levies, and
crushed them in another before Reading itself. The second
week saw their own overwhelming defeat by Ethelred and
Alfred at Ashdown, so dramatically told by the chroniclers,
in whose pages we see the royal brothers assisting at Mass
virhen the alarm of the Danish approach reached them. We
see Alfred spring to his feet on the news and rush out to array
his army, 'with such skill as the warrior Judas [Maccabasus]
going forth to battle ' ;^ while Ethelred, refusing ' for any man
on earth, to turn his back on Divine Service,'^ remained in
church till the Mass was over. We see the ' dense phalanx '^
of the English under Alfred charge, sword in hand, 'with the
rush of a wild boar,' up the hill against the foe ; the
shock of the two hosts * with loud shouts '* around * the low
lone thorn-tree '^ upon the slope ; the warriors falling on
either side * by fifties, by hundreds, and by thousands ' f the
mortal struggle turned at last by the decisive onset of the

^ Simeon.

2 Asser.

3 3id.
*' Simeon.

Introductory Sketch 2 1

English reserves under Ethelred, ' sheathed in armour and in
prayer/i cutting down two Danish leaders with his own hand,'^
and putting the whole horde to a panic flight, in which most
of their other chieftains fell, ' with many thousand heathen '
more, ' covering with their corpses the field far and wide.'

§ 2. Yet within a fortnight they had rallied, and could win
in another desperate fight at Basing, and now it became a
harder task to raise forces to resist them. The best and
bravest of Wessex had fallen, and two months passed before
the brothers could face the invaders again — to be again beaten
at Merton, in Surrey, and Ethelred mortally wounded. While
he was dying at Wimborne, in Dorset — so far westwards had
the English been driven — came a new and exceptionally
strong Danish ' summer - lead ' to join their comrades at
Reading. And now the fortunes of England seemed des-
perate indeed. It was but ' a small band ' that Alfred could
bring to follow him in the forlorn hope with which he dashed
against the united hosts of the heathen at Wilton, in the first
month of his reign.

§ 3. The odds were too great, and the Danes won yet
again. But so desperate had been Alfred's onset, ' so rough
the English hand-play,' and so doubtful the fight, that they
were fain to enter into negotiations, and to make peace with
the young King, on the sole condition of withdrawing from
his own immediate realm of Wessex. This, of course, meant
that they were left free to work their will in the dependent
kingdoms — Mercia, East Anglia, and Northumbria. It was a
sad necessity, but there was no help for it. London itself had
to be given up to the enemy, and Alfred had to look on at the
dethronement of his brother-in-law, Burghred, the last King
of Mercia (who died in exile at Rome), and the establishment
of Danish settlements all over England north of the Thames.
The termination ' by ' (the Scandinavian equivalent for
' burgh ') in Derby, Whitby, and many another town and
village, marks to this day the districts where the new invaders
set themselves down most thickly and most permanently on
the land.

§ 4. Thus passed four miserable years, during which we

^ Simeon. ^ Ethelwerd.

2 2 Alfred in the Chroniclers

hear nothing of Alfred. But we may be sure that his chief
task was to make such improvement as was possible in the
wretched state of demoralization which the Danish invaders
had left behind them in his own Wessex. ' Great trouble
and vexation had he with his folk, who would take little or
no pains for the common need of the realm. Yet, all alone,
stood he, by God's help, at the helm of the kingdom ; even as
a master helmsman setteth him (though his sailors be weary
and idle, almost all) to bring his ship safe unto the haven.
Even so suffered he in himself no fainting nor wavering amid
the many eddies and tide-ways [fluctivagos] of this world.
His Bishops, his Aldermen . . . and his Sheriffs [praepositos]
(to whom, after God and the King, the sway of the realm
seemeth meetest to be entrusted), did he bend to his will, and
bind to the common weal, by gentle teaching, by kind attention
[adulando], by exhortation, by command, and, in the last
resort, by sharp punishment, and by showing in every way
his loathing of their vulgar folly and obstinacy.'^ ' Full oft
was he vexed to the heart with the Princes and the Captains
[pentecontarchos], and the whole perverse generation, because
they would not follow out the ends on which he was bent.' ' In
all the whole realm the poor, save him alone, had few or none
to champion them. For all the high and mighty of the land
gave thought rather to the things of this world than to the
things of God : yea, more greedy was each one among them
of his own worldly gain than for the common weal. . . . Often
perversely did they strive together in the very session of his
judges and Aldermen, insomuch that scarcely would one
among them allow the justice of the award of the magis-
trates, and ... all appealed to the King's own judgment.
But were any conscious of unright in his cause, he, though by
law bound to go before the King, yet with his own consent
never would he go. . . . For well he knew that in the King's
presence no whit of his wrong-doing could be pleaded for a
moment: nor marvel was it, for the King, in awarding sen-
tence as in all beside, was a most keen searcher out of truth.
Himself did he inquire into almost all the judgments given . . .
throughout all his realms . . . and, did he perceive iniquity

^ Simeon of Durham, § 53.

Introductory Sketch ^^

-o

therein, he . . . called unto him the judges, and asked
them mildly why they had judged thus wrongfully, whether
through ignorance or malevolence, whether for love or fear of
any, or through hatred, or from greed of money.

v:n 5. 'And, at length, if they acknowledged that they had
given these judgments because they knew no better, then did
he discreetly and temperately reprove their ignorance and
folly after this sort : "■ Wonder, truly, is it to me of your
rashness, that whereas, by God's grace and mine, ye hold the
state and office of the wise, ye forget to study and work
wisdom. Either then do ye at once forego the . . . offices
ye hold, or strive ye more earnestly to study the lessons of
wisdom. Such is my behest."

v^ 6. ' At these words would the judges and officers tremble
and strive to give all thought to the study of justice ; so that,
wondrous to tell, almost all his Aldermen, Sheriffs and
Thanes, though unlearned from their cradles, set to work at
letters with a will ; choosing the rather to be at the pains to
learn unwonted lessons than to resign their functions. But
if any, from age or slowness of wit, could make no speed in
the liberal studies, then bade he his son, if he had one, or a
kinsman, or, if none else might be had, his own freedman or
thrall ... to recite Saxon books before him day and night,
whensoever leisure served. And with deep sighs did they
lament from their inmost heart that in their youth they had
taken no heed to such studies.'

v^ 7. This vivid sketch is from Asser's eloquent summing
up of his life of Alfred ; and it must be specially applicable
to these early years of his reign. These years, too, must
have seen the beginnings of those many-sided developments
which marked his tenure of the throne beyond that of any
monarch before or after. Not only did he, ' amid the
trammels of this present world . . . and his own infirmities '
thus diligently perform his regal duties, but he also ' practised
constantly hunting of every kind, himself training his falconers
and dog-keepers ; himself did he teach his workmen in gold
and silver and all cunning work beside, building houses
stately and good beyond all his forefathers. Himself did he
teach his folk to recite Saxon books, and above all did he

24 Alfred in the Chroniclers

learn by heart Saxon songs, and made others learn them ;
nor for his own part did he ever cease from studying most
diligently and with all his power. Daily did he attend the
Mass and other offices of religion : instant was he in psalm-
singing and in prayer at the Hours, both of day and night.
To the churches also would he go in the night time, secretly
and unbeknown to his Court-folk. Unto Holy Scripture was
he ever ready to hearken, and would have his own home-born
folk read it unto him. And with outlanders no less would
he join in prayer, if reason was ; and to strangers from far
would he give alms even as to his own folk. Courteous was
he of speech, and pleasant to all, and wondrous eager to
search into things unknown.'

* Often and often would he repeat to himself by heart these
lines [of Boethius] :

' Though ruin on ruin
Be heaped through the world,
Though on by the wild wind
The billows be hurled,
Thou, stablished in quiet,
Thou, happy and strong,
Mayst smile at the tempest
Through all thy life long.'^

^ Simeon of Durham.

CHAPTER VI.

(jreat Danish inroad of 876 — Siege of Wareham — Capture of Exeter —
Danish tleet destroyed at Swanage — Alfred the founder of our navy
—Danes at Chippenham — Wessex wholly overrun — Alfred unpopular
— Danish massacres — Alfred in Athelney — His jewel.

B

5^ I. T "^ UT the working out of this brilliant promise had
to wait for better times. All too soon did the first
brief breathing-space of Alfred's reign come to
an end, in a more fearful struggle than even that which preceded
it. The mighty host of the Danes, after leaving Wessex at the
end of 871, made their head-quarters for a while in London.
The next winter found them encamped on the Humber, the
next at Repton, in Derbyshire. The intervening summers
were congenially spent in their wonted ravages, and in the
third (874) another great reinforcement reached them from
overseas under three Kings, ' and they became invincible.'^
Organized resistance, indeed, seems to have wholly ceased,
and they now ventured to divide their forces, the original
host invading Scotland, while the new-comers settled them-
selves at Cambridge.

§ 2. Yet another year, and the Danes ' thinking it scorn '^
that any part of England should remain to Alfred, or more
probably having squeezed their immediate neighbourhood
dry and scenting better plunder in his comparatively unex-
hausted realm, made a sudden dash on Wessex. ' Stealing
away '^ from Cambridge (Florence adds ' by night "), a forced
march enabled them to surprise the strong fortress of Ware-
ham in Dorset. Beset there by Alfred, * they sware unto

Asser.

- Henry of Huntingdon.

^ A.S. Chronicle.

2 6 Alfred in the Chroniclers

him that they would depart from his land.' The oath was
made ' on their holy armlets,' a pledge so sacred that ' never
before would they do so to any nation.' What this ' armlet '
(beacg) was is uncertain. We know that, in Iceland, the
Norsemen kept a holy ring in their temples by which they
swore ;^ but this would be unavailable abroad. It is possible
that the ' holy armlet ' was one of those ' bracteates ' in use
among the Scandinavians of that age, brought from the East,
inscribed with the zodiacal signs and with Arabic or sham-
Arabic lettering. For freebooters to have some special oath
which alone was regarded as binding remained a practice
until quite recent days. Sir Walter Scott mentions it (in
* Waverley ') as still current in the eighteenth century.

^ 3. Sacrosanct, however, as was this ceremony, it proved a
mere blind, and one only too successful, to put the Enghsh
off their guard. The very next night ' that perjured host '
made a desperate sortie, cut their way through the Saxon
leaguer, and, pushing westwards in all haste, rushed the un-
prepared garrison of Exeter. This proceeding left to a well-
merited hanging the ' hostages placed in Alfred's hands as
security for the treaty, and further led to the destruction
by the winds and an English squadron of no fewer than
120 Danish vessels, which tried to effect a landing at
Swanage in support of the invasion. It was doubtless by
preconcerted arrangement with these expected allies that the
host from Cambridge had struck for so remote a place as
Wareham.

§ 4. Great as was the immediate importance of this naval
triumph, it is of far greater historical moment as marking the
very first outset of the flag of England upon the seas. For
amongst the many deep debts which we owe to Alfred, the
very greatest, perhaps, from a national point of view, is his
creation of our navy. And this creation was absolutely his
own.

§ 5. For many a long year the English had ceased to be
seafaring folk. Few developments in history are more
startling than the effect of their occupation of Britain upon
the Saxon pirates. After being for centuries the scourge of

^ Arngrim Jonas, ' Rerum Islandic.,' i. 7.

I

I

Introductory Sketch 27

every coast, their ravages suddenly cease to meet us, and the
conquest of our island so entirely absorbs the whole energies
of the race that the sea knows them no more. All the long
struggle with the Britons and amongst themselves, which
makes up their history for nearly 400 5^ears, was wholly
waged on land ; we never hear of a sea-fight. Nor for all
that time did any hostile fleet ever threaten our shores.

§ 6. Thus when, at length, invaders from oversea did
begin once more to pour into the country, the one thought of
the defence was to meet and crush them on land. Though
a hundred years had passed since * the first ships of Northmen
sought Angle-kin ' in j^j , the idea of meeting them on the
water never seems to have occurred to anyone before Alfred,
unless, indeed, it were to his brother and adviser^ St. Neot.^
It needed a wonderful power of rising above contemporary
conservatism to perceive that England's true line of defence
is not her coast, but the waves around it. So ingrained is
that thought in our national consciousness now, after being
acted upon all these centuries, that we are almost unable to
realize how extraordinary a flash of genius was its first
inception.

§ 7. And this was wholly Alfred's. Not one of the line of
valiant Kings before him, his three brothers, his father, his
grandfather, who, one and all, made so brave a stand against
the Danes on shore, ever, like him, ' fared out to sea with a
ship-host ' to fight them on their own element This he had
first done in 875, the year before the victory off Swanage,
when he had defeated a small Danish squadron and taken
seven ships. Doubtless it was the inspiriting effect of this
little victory in their first attempt which encouraged our
sailors to meet and break the much more formidable arma-
ment of Zj^.

§ 8. Who these sailors were is a further question. It must
be remembered that Alfred had to begin at the very bottom.
The thought was his only, and he had to find both the ships
and the seamen to carry it out. Both must, at first, have
been largely foreign ; for neither English ships nor English

^ One MS. of the A.S. Chronicle makes St. Neot (Athelstane of Kent) fight
* on shipboard ' in 851 ; but the entry, if correct, stands absolutely alone.

28 Alf7'ed in the C/uvniclers

seamen as yet existed. But there was no lack of adventurers,
Danish, Norse, Frisian, and what not, haunting the Channel,
and quite ready to hire out their services. Some of these
pirates we know that Alfred took into his pay to begin
with; adding, doubtless, a detachment of English warriors to
each crew. But more and more as he went on did his navy
become wholly English. For he himself designed the ships,
and had them built to his own plans, and himself trained the
crews that manned them.

§ 9. Nor did Alfred's navy die with him. Throughout the
reigns of his great descendants, Edward, Athelstane, and
especially Edgar, we find the English fleet a most important
factor in the national polity. And ever since, whenever the
Government of our country has been in able hands, then has
England been strong upon the waters; so strong that she has
actually claimed the empire of the seas. From the reign of
John to that of Victoria this claim was more or less made;
and for three centuries at least (the sixteenth, seventeenth and
eighteenth) no foreign ensign might fly, even in peace, save
by express permission, within sight of the flag of England.
And what our fleet, with all its glorious traditions, all its
uplifting eff"ect upon the national heart, is to us now, we all
know. But few remember that all this we owe to Alfred.

§ 10. The annihilation of the Danish fleet at Swanage
produced an effect akin to that of the Battle of the Nile.
The invaders' plan of campaign was simply ruined ; the
disappointed pirates were forced to make yet another truce
with Alfred, with more oaths and hostages ; * and this time
they kept it well.' But while most of them returned into
Mercia, Exeter was still held, until in 878, * during midwinter,
after Twelfth Night,' the garrison ' stole away '^ to take part
in yet another secretly-planned and rapidly-executed invasion
of Wessex. For ever fresh hordes of pirates had been
pouring into Mercia over the North Sea, so that ' the number
of the miscreants [perversi] grew day by day ; and though
thirty thousand were slain in one field, others, aye, twice as
many, eftsoon took their place. '^

§ II. * The foul mob '^ thus got together burst over the

^ A.S. Chronicle. ^ Asser. ^ Ethelwerd.

Introductory Sketch 29

frontier and successfully effected a junction with their
comrades from Exeter at Chippenham, * and over-ran the
land of the West Saxons and settled down therein,' * covering
the face of the earth like locusts, for none could stay them.'^
' Many of the country folk drave they beyond sea by force of
arms and by lack of victual,'- probably to seek refuge amid
the already Saxon population of Coutance and the Bessin.
' And of the rest the more part did they subdue and force to
serve them, save King Alfred only.'^

§ 12. Both King and kingdom had evidently been taken
completely unawares. All the early authorities leave the
impression that there was no time to organize any resistance
whatever before all was lost. A wholly inexact insertion in
the late chronicle of John of Brompton speaks of a small
and hasty English levy under Alfred himself as annihilated
before the walls of Chippenham. And this may have
been so.

§ 13. Moreover, the records not obscurely hint that Alfred
had not at this time won the hearts of his people as he did
afterwards. He was not yet * England's darling.' We have
seen how thoroughgoing a reformer he was ; and reformers
always earn, to begin with, more hatred than goodwill.
Besides, he was a young reformer, and, we may well believe,
carried out his reforms with the uncompromising severity of
youth, and by methods overmuch lacking in conciliation.
We may well, too, believe the story which tells us that this
was no small vexation and anxiety to the King's friend and
counsellor St. Neot, with his wider experience of bearing
rule ; and that the saint often warned Alfred in vain that
this overweening course would assuredly bring after it
disastrous consequences.

' But Alfred heeded not the reproof of the man of God, nor
listed what he foretold. Wherefore (seeing that a man's sins
must needs be some way punished, either in this world or in
that which is to come), the Righteous Judge and True willed
that he should not be unpunished here, that so he might be
spared hereafter.'

§ 14. The popular shortcomings which he had tried to

^ Henry of Huntingdon. ^ Asser. ^ A.S. Chronicle.

30 Alfred in the Ckroiiiclers

level up are also given by the historians as reasons for this
sore judgment :

' For in West AngUa . . . they had long lived in peace . . .
which itself is no small incentive to vice . . . and eave
themselves up to sloth and luxury . . . eating and drinking
. . . even as the brute beasts. On them therefore came a
brute beast in man's shape, King Gutrum, to wit, brutal and
ferocious toward each and all, who with sword and axe
wrought his bestial will. Nay, he spared not even such
as . . . threw themselves at his feet. Neither old nor young,
boy nor girl, mother nor maiden, spared he. . . . For his eye
spared none. And piteous was the slaughter that might be
seen. There lay they in each road and street and cross-
way — old men with hoar and reverend locks butchered at
their own doors ; young men headless, handless, footless ;
matrons foully dishonoured in the open street and maidens
with them ; . . . children stricken through with spears ; all
exposed to every eye and trodden under every foot. Some,
too, there lay half-burnt within their half-burnt houses, not
having dared to leave them ; for they who were driven from
their hiding-places by the fire perished by the sword. '^

§ 15. It is evident that the advantage gained by the
invaders was utterly overwhelming. All Wessex was for the
moment at their feet, save only the wild hills of Exmoor,
with the yet more impenetrable marshes lying between the
Ouantocks and the Mendips.

This tract was well fitted by Nature to be the asylum of
the vanquished. Already it had delayed for 200 years the
westward sweep of the Saxon conquest, thus preserving the
continuity of its great sanctuary, Glastonbury (for ere the
invaders passed the barrier they too were Christians, eager
to revere rather than destroy the churches of the Britons),
and preserving, moreover, to no small extent the continuity of
its population. Once Christians, the English no longer
simply massacred and enslaved ; they recognised their
vanquished foes as fellow-Christians, and merely held them
in subjection, settling amongst them, intermarrying with
them, and ultimately assimilating them. How much Celtic

^ John of Wallingford.

Introductory Sketch 31

blood was still to be found in the district is shown by Asser
giving the Welsh as well as the English name for almost
every place he mentions thereabout.

§ 16. Hither then Alfred fled with a few faithful friends,
making for the Isle of Athelney, a small, inconspicuous
elevation, where the river Tone joins the Parret, ' girded in
with fen on every side, and not to be come at save by boat.
Thereon is all dense alder-brake, full of stags and goats and
such creatures, and in the midst one bit of open ground,
scarce two acres. '^ This fastness he made his chief place
of refuge, whence he and his would sally out by twos and
threes in quest of food, and to spy upon the enemy. Nay,
sometimes in these wanderings the King found himself
absolutely alone, as in the oft-told episode of the cakes in
the cowherd's hut, and the equally oft-told occasion when
he sought the Danish camp under the guise of a minstrel
and thus learnt their proposed movements.

§ 17. Athelney, moreover, is the scene of the less-known
tale which connects this last exploit with the name of
St. Cuthbert, the renowned evangelizer of Northumbria :

' There had the King no sustenance save what he caught
by fowling, hunting, or fishing. And at length it came to
pass while his men were away fishing, and he was solacing
his distress by meditating on the Scriptures, suddenly there
stood beside him a pilgrim, begging alms in the name of God.
Then did the kind-hearted monarch lift up his hands to
heaven and said, " I thank my God that me, His beggar. He
visiteth to-day in beggar's guise ; that to-day He asketh
back what He hath given, and requireth from me His own
with usury." And quickly doth the King in his pity call his
servant, who had naught but a little wine and one loaf, and
. . . bids him give the half unto that beggar. The beggar
thanks him, and in a moment, leaving no foot-print in the
mire, vanisheth away. And, lo, the things bestowed on him
were found untouched, as well the bread as the wine ; and
they who had gone a-fishing brought back an innumerable
multitude of fishes.

' And when the King slept there appeared unto him one

^ Roger of Wendover.

32 Alfred in the Chroniclers

clad in pontifical robes, who warned him of his duties . . .
and added : " O Alfred, Christ who hath beheld the up-
rightness of thine heart endeth even now thy troubles. For
to-morrow shall there come to thee strong helpers, by whose
aid shalt thou overthrow thine enemies." Then said the
King, '' Who art thou ?" And he said, " I am Cuthbert. I
am that pilgrim who was yesterday here, to whom thou
gavest bread. Thee and thine take I beneath my care.
Remember this when it shall be well with thee." '

' Thus, by the encouragement and monition of St. Cuthbert
did the Most Christian King quit his lurking den, and by
a device of rare wit, in the garb of a minstrel did he enter
the Danish tents ; and having spied out all he desired to see,
turned him again to Athelney.'^

§ 1 8. Special interest thus attaches to the fact that at
Athelney should have been found the only personal relic of
Alfred, his famous * jewel,' now in the Ashmolean Museum at
Oxford. This is a sort of gold locket, some 2 inches long,
the front being of crystal, through which is seen the figure of
a man, rudely designed in gold and various coloured enamel.
Though the design is rude, the workmanship is exquisite,
and is a striking testimony to the much-praised skill of the
English goldsmiths at this period. Round the edge of the
locket (which is about half an inch thick) runs the inscrip-
tion, in letters of pierced gold, aelfredmechehtgewyrcan
{Alfred had me worked). The figure has been variously
thought to be intended either for our Lord, or the Pope, or
St. Peter, or St. Cuthbert, or St. Neot, or it may be Alfred
himself It is scarcely likely that the jewel dates from the
time when he was in hiding at Athelney. It more probably
formed part of the treasure belonging to the monastery which
he there founded as a thank-offering after the tempest which
drove him to shelter passed away.

1 'Book of Hyde.'

— <

4

^^»^«rUJJ^:^^J^«J)^J^KiyJtMrM.

>;:"IU:

ll^^^^

CHAPTER VII.

Danish defeat in Devon — The Magic Standard — Rising of Wessex —
Decisive battle of Ethandune — Surrender of Chippenham — Baptism
of Guthrum — Peace of Wedmore — Its results — Alfred's restoration of
London.

I.

T

HE first gleam of returning sunshine came
from the West. ' Now that King Alfred had
neither land nor hope . . . the Lord looked
down from heaven upon the remnant of His people.' A
pirate fleet of twenty-three ships, which had wintered in
South Wales, ' with much slaughter of Christians and burning
of monasteries,' crossed the Bristol Channel_, and at the vernal
equinox poured ' like fierce wolves ' into Devonshire. Almost
at their landing, however, a sudden rally of the men of Devon
cut off the entire force, at Kinwith near Bideford. The
Hubba Stone, a huge barrow amongst the sandhills by the
estuary (now swept away by the tide), enshrined for eight
centuries the name and the bones of the pirate chief here
slaughtered. 'And there was taken their war-flag which they
called The Raven ' — a magic banner, held in the utmost
reverence by the Northmen ; * for they say that the three
daughters of Lodbrok [the father of Hubba] wove it, and
that in one day. They say, moreover, that in every fight,
whensoever that flag went before them, the Raven in the midst
thereof, if they were fated to win the day, would seem to flutter
as it were alive ; but were their doom to be worsted, then
would it droop still and lifeless. And oft was this well proven.'
We are reminded of the Athenian Owlet at Salamis.^

^ Aristophanes, ' Wasps,' 1085.

Alfred in the Chroniclers

§ 2. And, indeed, with the capture of this banner the
spell of the long succession of Danish victories was now
at last broken, and English hearts began to take courage.
Alfred's sallies from Athelney were no longer mere foraging
raids, but incessant attacks upon the flying parties of the
Danish host, so effectual, and rousing such a spirit of local
resistance, that the invaders were forced to concentrate. The
country, being thus cleared, rose en masse, and it was ' the
whole folk of Somersetshire and Wiltshire and Hampshire '
who, at Whitsuntide, '^'J'^, greeted 'with joy and acclaim'
the King whom all had thought dead. This was at Egbert's
Stone [Brixton], on the border of Selwood or ' Mucelwood '
Forest, 'which being interpreted is in Latin Silva Magna,
but in British Coitmawr.'

§ 3. And Alfred was not the man to let such a chance
slip. That very day, while the enthusiasm roused by his re-
appearance was at its height, * at peep of dawn roused he the
camp,' and led, no small band this time but ' a mighty army,'
against the foe. Two days more, and he had met them at
Ethandune [Edington, near Westbury, in Wiltshire] for the
decisive battle, on which hung the fate of England. The
numbers on either side seem to have been about equal.
Doubtless the Danes were the better armed, being profes-
sional soldiers, while the English were only a land-sturm.
But, on the other hand, the former were doubtless as dispirited
by the sudden turn of events as the latter were encouraged.

§ 4. The event is thus graphically described by Simeon
of Durham :

* With the first bright rays of the rising sun, did the King
alike and all the flower of his folk beclothe themselves in
their war-gear — with the threefold breastplate, to wit, of
Faith, and of Hope, and of the Love of God. Arising there-
after from the ground, boldly did they challenge the combat,
trusting full surely in the mercy and loving-kindness of the
Creator, and safe-guarded, as with a rampart, by the presence
of their King, whose face shone even then with light as it had
been the face of an angel.

• All the long day did the two peoples fight ; and far off
might you hear the shouting and the crash of arms. And

Introdicctory Sketch

He who in His might beholdeth all things, beheld also the
inmost wish of His King on earth, and granted him his
heart's desire — the prayers and the aid of the powers of
heaven. Thus at length laid he low his foes, and gat him
the victory, giving thanks to his heavenly Saviour with joy of
heart'

§ 5. From other sources we learn that the supernatural aid
on which Alfred's heart was thus set was that of the dear
brother and counsellor of whom death had the year before
deprived him, St. Neot. We read that ere his departure the
saint had promised that as he had been Alfred's spiritual
guide in life, so should that spiritual guidance and wardship
still abide with him. 'Thy guide have I been ever; thee
and thine will I lead on.' ' I will be thy captain, I will be
thy champion ; thou shalt be glad and rejoice in me.' ' Lo,
I will go before thy banner' ; 'thine enemies shall perish at
my presence.'^

§ 6. And now the King was persuaded that this promise
was being fulfilled. With the eye of ardent faith he beheld
the blessed spirit of his brother leading on the Christian
banners to the onset, * signifer et praevius ' — * See ye not V
he exclaimed to his men; 'see ye not? That is indeed
Neotus, Christ's glorious servant, Christ's unconquer^ed
soldier, and through him is the victory even now given to
our hands.'

§ 7. The Danes, in fact, were utterly worsted, and sent
flying back, in headlong rout and with heavy loss, to their
entrenched camp at Chippenham. Here they at once found
themselves completely invested by the pursuing English, who
' with blow on blow followed hard after them,' and wholly
unprovisioned for a siege ; for * every living thing without the
stronghold, flocks and herds and horses and all, caught we
and took ' ere they could be brought in. Neither assault nor
sally seems to have been made. Alfred knew that the enemy
must shortly surrender unless they cut their way out ; and
this they were too demoralized by defeat even to attempt.
Thus we only read of exultation on the one side, and craven
dejection on the other. ' Then did the King and his hosts

1 ' Chronicle of St. Neot.'

3—2

36 Alfred in the Chroniclers

stand by, all smiling with joy of heart ; but the remnant of
the foe cried ever aloud for sorrow of heart, and for bitter
hunger, and for cold, and for mighty dread. " Mercy," do
they implore, " mercy," " mercy and peace " — they who had
ever been enemies unto peace, of direst mood.'^

5^ 8. And to peace, after a fortnight, they were admitted ;
on conditions which show to what a strait they had been
brought.

First, they were to give the King as many hostages as he
pleased, receiving none in return, ' in which form they had
never before made treaty with anyone.'^

Secondly, they were immediately to depart the kingdom.

Thirdly, their leader Guthrum was to become a Christian
and receive baptism without delay.

§ 9. On these terms the humiliated Danes left Chippenham,
and betook themselves to Cirencester, over the Mercian
border. And a few weeks later Guthrum did indeed present
himself for baptism ; when Alfred, as his godfather, gave him
the Christian name of Athelstane, after the sainted brother
whose warnings and whose promises had alike been so
signally fulfilled in Guthrum's attack and Guthrum's defeat.

§ 10. * And thus did King Alfred receive him for his own
son by adoption.' * And his chrisom-loosing^ was atWedmore,
on the eighth day, when the holy chrism was poured upon
him. And after did he abide yet twelve nights.' * And his
spiritual father gave unto him many a fair gift — yea, and
unto all his comrades, as many as were fain to receive the
Christian faith.'

The chrisom was the white robe worn by the newly-baptized
for the first week of their Christian life. Its ' loosing ' was
marked at this date by the ' chrism,' i.e., the Confirmation of
the candidates. It would seem that along with Guthrum
some, at least, of the * thirty best and greatest of his host '
who attended him were also baptized.

§ II. This baptismal visit of Guthrum to Alfred was a

^ Simeon of Durham. ^ Asser.

3 ' Crism-lising,' A.S. Chronicle, which Asser renders crismatis solutio. As
nothing else is known of this ceremony, I believe there is here a confusion
between chrism and chrisotii. Special regulations as to the putting off of the
chrisom were issued by Edmund, Archbishop of Canterbury, a.d. 735.

%

Introductory Sketch 2)7

political epoch of the very first importance. It established
between them a tie which the Danish chief, fierce pirate as
he was, never forgot.' Henceforward, whatever other Danes
might do, his influence, the mightiest amongst them, always
made for peace with his godfather, and he himself never
broke it. Nor only so. Alfred's statecraft took occasion at
this interview to establish with the Danes a permanent under-
standing. By formal treaty he bound them to evacuate not
only Wessex, but half Mercia also. Their boundary was to
be the river Lea from its mouth to its source, then ' right to
Bedford,' and along the Ouse to the old Roman Watling
Street, leading straight as a line from London to Chester.
Beyond that, northward and eastward, all was to be the
* Danelagh.' In this district Danish law was to prevail, and
Guthrum and his chieftains might set up whatever local
polities best suited them. But all were to recognise the West
Saxon King as lord paramount.

§ 12. And all were to observe strict and equal justice
betwixt Englishman and Dane. The wer-gild, or fine
payable for manslaughter, was to be the same for each,
' 8 half-marks of pure gold ' (equivalent to about i^50 or £66)^
and upwards according to the rank of the slain man. And
a common procedure was to regulate all matters of dispute
between members of the two nationalities.

§ 13. The effect of this Peace of Wedmore was to do away
for good with the whole system of English under-kings. The
royal lines, indeed, of Mercia, Northumbria, and East Anglia
had all alike become extinct. That of Wessex, the oldest of
all, alone was left ; and henceforward its subsidiary realms,
Mercia, Kent, and Sussex, were assigned, like shires, merely
to Aldermen. To the Alderman of Mercia Alfred gave in
marriage his own daughter Ethelfled, whose claim, after her
husband's death, to be ' Lady of the Mercians ' was of such
vast moment in that re-conquest of the ' Danelagh ' which was
the glory of the reign of her great brother, Edward the
Elder.

§ 14. And, with her, Alfred gave over to her husband's
wardship the newly rebuilt city of London. The place had
been utterly wasted by the Danes, * the town burnt, and the

38 Alfred in the Chroniclei's

townsfolk slain, . . . scattered far and wide, or brought in
bondage to the heathen.' The old Roman walls were doubt-
less still standing, but breached and ruinous ; and the old
Roman centre of Britain, from which every road of theirs
radiated, had become a dreary, flame-scorched waste, without
inhabitant.

§ 15. It is possible that this may have been so once before,
after the English conquest four centuries earlier ; but as we
read that the last British Bishop of London only fled from his
see shortly before the coming of Augustine, this is scarcely
probable. London, it is more likely, lived on through all the
troubles which marked the end of Roman Britain, surviving,
though with much diminished dignity, first as the capital of
the Middle Saxons, afterwards as one of the leading towns of
the East Saxons, from whom it was finally taken by the
Angles of Mercia.

§ 16. Now, Alfred's genius for warcraft and statecraft saw
the unrivalled strategic and political advantages of the site,
and started London anew in her career of greatness. Ac-
cording to some of the chroniclers, he took the place by force
from the Danes, who had drawn off most of their garrison
here to aid their great siege of Paris ; but the earlier au-
thorities tell us only of the work of restoration. ' Worship-
fully did he build again the place . . . that men might dwell
therein and have it in possession.' These men were, to a
great extent, the old inhabitants, 'both Angles and Saxons'
(the former representing the comparatively new Mercian
element in the population), 'who before were scattered far
and wide,' and who now * freely came in unto the King, and
bowed them to his sway.'

§ 17. The event fully justified Alfred's intuition. The im-
portance of London — as the lowest point for many a long
mile, where a defensible bridge across the Thames was
possible^ — manifested itself at once. Over and over again in
every subsequent inroad the city checked the Danes, nor
could they ever again take it. Indeed, it never has since
been taken. It waxed ever greater, and in less than three

^ William the Conqueror, when unable to force London Bridge, had to go up
the river as far as Wallingford before he could find another crossing-place.

Introductory Sketch 39

centuries from the date of its restoration by Alfred had
vindicated its claim to be the undisputed metropolis of all
England.

5^ 18. How much did anyone at the time, even Alfred
himself, foresee of London's future greatness ? But little,
probably. Nevertheless, his restoration of the city was evi-
dently felt at once throughout the whole land as an event of
the very first importance. It made his claim to be not only
King of Wessex, but, like his grandfather Egbert, Overlord
of England, a reality. ' Unto him,^ says the Anglo-Saxon
Chronicle here, 'turned [tocirde] all Angle-kin^; and hence-
forth we find him exercising authority, not only in his own
Wessex, but in every part of the land not immediately under
the Danes — in the mountains of Wales, ^ in the wilds of
Northumberland,^ and in the fens of Ely,^ where he is said to
have set up a little college of priests amid the ruins of Ethel-
dreda's famous abbey, ruined, like the rest thereabout, in the
great Danish raid of 870. This great national event — the
rebirth of our capital — took place in %Z6. It is noteworthy
that never after that date do the contemporary authorities
call Alfred by the title, used up to 885, * King of the West
Saxons * ; henceforward he is * King of the Anglo-Saxons.'

^ Asser. - Roger of Wendover, § 13. ^ ' Liber Eliensis,' i., § 41.

CHAPTER VIII.

Subsequent Danish wars — Great invasion of 893 — Military genius of
Alfred — Campaigns of 894, 895, 896 — Battle of Farnham— Danes at
Chester — Danish fleet taken — Alfred's ships.

"N

§ I. "\^ y OR, so long as Guthrum lived, had Alfred any
further serious trouble with the Danes. Though
shortly after the Treaty of Wedmore a large
pagan fleet entered the Thames and wintered at Fulham,
they found no support from the men of the Danelagh, and
sailed away, without attempting mischief here, to ravage
Flanders and France, and to be repelled from Paris by the
noble devotion and energy of St. Genevieve. Some of the
more turbulent spirits from Guthrum's following seem to
have accompanied them ; remembering, we may well believe,
the vision^ of empire which, three years earlier, had led their
old comrade, RoUo ' the Ganger,' across the Channel, — to
become in due time (A.D. 905) the first Duke of Normandy.
A petty raid by four ships only was vainly attempted in 882 ;
and a more serious inroad, which stirred up a ferment amongst
the East Anglian Danes, was nipped in the bud by prompt
naval and military action in 885 ; but not till 893, when
Guthrum was dead, and the Danelagh breaking up into a
disorganized mass of petty Danish holdings, were the free-
booters able to push any invasion home.

§ 2. In that year, however, ' the mighty host came back
from the East Kingdom,^ west to Boulogne, and there took

^ See John of Brompton, § 22.

'■^ I.e.y the German kingdom of the East Franks, whose King was also usually

• Introductory Sketch 41

they shipping, so that they came over at one crossing, horses
and all, and they came to land at Limenemouth, with 350
ships. This inlet is in the eastern part of Kent, at the
east end of the great weald which is called Andread.^ The
weald is in length 120 miles, from east to west, or longer, and
30 miles broad, and the river Limin flows out of the weald.
On this river they towed their ships as far as they might,
four miles from the outer mouth, and there stormed they a
stronghold. Within that stronghold were but few men
posted, and they but churls, and in part only was it finished.
Then soon after came Hasting with 80 ships to Thames
mouth, and wrought him also a stronghold at Middleton, on
the south side of the Thames. And the other host did the
like at Appledore.''

§ 3. And this formidable inroad — the most formidable in
point of numbers that England had seen since the Battle of
Ockley,^ forty years before — was supported by treason at
home. There was a general rising amongst the Danes
settled in the land, * and against their plighted troth, so oft
as the other hosts raided forth, then raided they forth also,
either with them or on their own count.'^

§ 4. The crisis was acute, but the genius and energy of
Alfred kept the situation well in hand. With true military
instinct he had already provided against the great difficulty
which besets the operations of a national militia acting against
professional soldiery — the impossibility of keeping the former
continuously embodied. The English levies were quite ready
to rise at their King's summons, and to fight bravely beneath
his banner in the field. But, the battle over, each man
wanted to return to his home, and give an eye to his farm-
work and his flock. After a few weeks at most, the land-
sturm would disband, leaving the enemy to make the most of
the occasion, and harry unchecked till a new array could be

Emperor. The Empire of the West was divided at this time into three parts :
the East (roughly = Germany), the West (roughly = P^rance), and the Middle
Kingdom (the valleys of the Rhine and Rhone), usually called Lotharingen
(Lorraine) after its first King, Lothaire, grandson of Charlemagne.

^ So called from the chief Roman city of Sussex, Anderida, utterly destroyed
at the English Conquest.

^ A.S. Chronicle. ^ See p. ii.

42 Alfred in the Chroniclers

summoned to meet them. For the enemy, a horde of fighters
always under arms, living on their plunder, were under no
necessity ever to lay aside their swords for ploughshares, or
to rear flocks and herds for themselves ; they preferred to
carry off those of others.

§ 5. All this was grasped by Alfred as it had never been
grasped before, and he created a way out of the difficulty
which had all the originality and all the simplicity of true
genius. During the fourteen years of almost continuous
peace which the Treaty of Wedmore had given him, he had
been diligently elaborating a workable scheme of national
defence. He had organized the able-bodied men of every
district in England into linked battalions, which in time of
need were called out alternately, for some limited period, of
probably two or three weeks' duration. When the summons
came, every man in the country knew his place in this land-
wehr, and was ready to serve his time. Thus, the King was
able to operate continuously against the foe, who, go where
they would, found the English ready for them at every point.
The result was triumphant : the hapless freebooters were
allowed no rest, but were incessantly hustled from side to
side of the land, like shuttles in a loom..

§ 6. Their first endeavour was to effect a junction between
their two armies from Appledore and Milton, their common
objective being London, now, since Alfred's restoration of the
city, recognised as the key of England. Alfred, however,
anticipated the design, and sent his son Edward, afterwards
King, to occupy, at Farnham, a strategic position between
the headquarters of the two pirate hosts. The Prince, thus
acting on interior lines, was able, when they made their efifort,
to inflict decisive defeat, first on one and then the other, ere
they could unite.

v^ 7. Thus worsted in the East, their next attempt was to
transfer the seat of war to the West. But those who went
round by sea to Devon were there kept in check by Alfred
himself; while those who, by a hasty dash up the Thames
Valley, reached the Severn were rolled back again with
heavy loss to seek a breathing-space in Essex. Finding
none, they made a forced march right across England, ' at

Introductory Sketch 43

one stretch day and night,' till they ensconced themselves in
* a waste Chester in Wirrall, which hight Lege-ceaster.'

§ 8. This ' Chester '*was none other than Chester itself, the
Roman Deva, which had lain waste ever since its destruction
by Ethelfrith of Northumbria in 607, after the great battle in
which he fulfilled Augustine's prophecy that if the Welsh
would not help in converting the English, they would them-
selves suffer from their heathen ferocity. The city was then
utterly depopulated, but, as was the case with most of the
Romano-British towns, it was not occupied by the conquerors.
To the genius of the early Teutonic mind, the idea of city
life was alien. Like the great Earl of Douglas, they were
' fainer to hear the lark sing than the mouse squeak,' and an
existence within stone walls was repulsive to them. Thus,
when they took a Roman town, they sacked and burnt it, but
left the site unheld for generations, sometimes, as at Anderida,
even to this day. And they called the spot by a Roman
name, castruin, Anglicized into 'caster,' * Chester,' or 'cester,'
adding, if it had been a military station of note, a reminis-
cence of the fact in the prefix Leg, i.e., legion.

§ 9. Here for a short space the hunted Danes were able to
rest, behind the old Roman walls still in part standing. But
their repose was brief, and next spring, after eating their horses
for hunger, they retired again to Essex, withdrawing their
fleet also from Devon, and thus giving up their whole western
design. Further heavy loss attended an attempted landing at
Chichester, and when they reached Essex the survivors were
so rash as to take their whole flieet up the Lea to Ware, twenty
miles above the newly-rebuilt London. The little river must
have been filled from bank to bank for miles with the war-
craft — long black, clinker-built galleys of beautiful lines, light
enough in draught to float in such a stream as the Lea, yet
seaworthy enough to face the stormy waves of the North Sea
and the Channel.

§ 10. Alfred's eagle eye saw the opportunity at a glance.
He seized in force on both banks of the stream below them,
and they found themselves hopelessly barred from the sea.
There was nothing for it but to abandon the entire fleet,
which was carried in triumph to London, and make yet

44

Alfred in the Chronicle^^s

another despairing rush westwards. Once again they were
met and driven back, at Coatbridge on the Severn, and now
they had had enough of it. ' Then did the host break up '
into a disorganized medley of small predatory gangs. * And
some went to East Anglia, and some to Northumbria, and
Hasting and they with him crossed again the sea, without
spoil and without honour, and so put in to Seine-mouth.'

§ II. 'Thanked be God,' writes the Anglo-Saxon chronicler
— and we may well believe that Alfred's own voice dictated
the words — ' this host brought not England to utter ruin ' ;^ a
contemporary murrain among cattle and mortality among
leading men being held much more serious calamities than
the invasion. Nor did the Danes ever gather head again.
A few pirate ' esks ' tried to ravage the south coast next year
(897), but they were easily overcome by the ' long ships ' built
by Alfred against them. ' They were full nigh twice as long as
the esks ; some had sixty oars, some more ; they were both
swifter and steadier, and eke higher than the others. They
were shapen neither after the Frisian fashion, nor yet the
Danish, but so as it seemed to the King they would best profit.'
The pirate crews were justly hanged ; and after this no serious
Viking invasion troubled the land for nearly a century.
When next the Danes returned in force, it was in the
miserable reign of Ethelred the Unready.

^ Ncesde se here (Godes 'Sances) Angel-cyn ealles sor swi'Se gebrocod.

'^^

CHAPTER IX.

Many-sided greatness of Alfred— His educational reforms— Status of
clergy— Asser— Alfred's handbook.

T

HE short remainder of Alfred's life was thus
passed in peace, peace well earned by his
true greatness in war. Few Kings of England
have shown more heroism and ability in the field of battle.
Yet his distinction in the field of battle is by far the least of
the glories of Alfred. Great as a warrior, he was yet greater
as a statesman, greater still as a saint, greatest of all as a
man of letters. It is this wondrous many-sidedness which
makes the name of Alfred shine with a lustre beyond that of
any other monarch before or since. In him we are reminded
of Julius Caesar, the master of statecraft and warcraft, the
engineer, the law-giver, and the writer ; and yet more, perhaps,
of David, the conqueror of the Philistines, the organizer of the
Hebrew monarchy, the deviser of the Temple, the sweet singer
of Israel. But neither Caesar nor David can show a record so
fair as that of Alfred.

§ 2. We have seen how from the first beginning of his
reign he set himself to the instruction of his people, materially,
spiritually, and intellectually ; and though his work must have
been interrupted almost at its commencement by the great
Danish inroad of ^^6, it was resumed after the Peace of
Wedmore with fresh energy. For that great deliverance had
made the King 'England's darling'^ indeed ; and henceforward
he shone out before every eye as the Ideal hero and pattern.

^ See the Proverbs of Alfred.

46 Alfred in the Chroniclers

Whatever line of life any one of his subjects might take up,
it was to Alfred that he looked as the supreme example of
success in that line. In literature, in poetry, in art, in
scientific attainments, in bodily exercises, in military skill, in
statesmanship, and, above all, in religion, it was Alfred, and
Alfred, and yet again Alfred, who was acclaimed by every
tongue to be the best man in the kingdom, the holder of
every record in the land. And when all this was joined with
a courtesy and affability royal indeed, we can imagine the
enthusiasm which such a monarch would kindle in every
class of his subjects, with what loyalty and what love he
would be regarded.

§ 3. And one and all were made to feel themselves special
objects of the interest and affection of their King. ' His
Bishops, his Aldermen, his Thanes, his counsellors, yea, and all
under him, did he love with exceeding love. And their sons,
brought up with his own royal family, regarded he as his own
— never tired, night and day, in teaching them virtue and
profitable learning.' His own children were 'committed to
the care of masters at schools of learning, as also be all the
high-born youth in the land, and many low-born. Here is
there diligent reading both in the Latin tongue and no less in
the Saxon. Writing also do they learn, so that ere they come
to strength for hunting and such-like exercises as beseem their
birth, they are already studious and skilled in liberal arts.'
And when old enough for a life in their father's Court, ' while
taking part in the wonted pursuits befitting their rank, they
are not suffered to pass their time in listless idleness. For
they have carefully learned the Psalms, also Saxon works, and,
beyond all, Saxon poetry, and are for ever reading books.'
' Yea, they abide even until now, worshipping their father,
enjoying the love of all about them, showing deference,
courtesy, and gentleness to all, both inland folk and outland.'
It is a pleasing comment on this passage of Asser to read in
the chronicles of Edward, Alfred's son, that he never failed
to visit his old nurse whenever his progresses brought him
into the neighbourhood where she dwelt. * He had thought
it shame not to do so.'

§ 4. Nor was it only the higher classes over whose education

I

Introd2tcto7'y Sketch 47

Alfred was solicitous. His discernment could detect and
reward intellectual promise even in the very humblest, as is
attested by the tale, true or false, that he had a swineherd,
named Denewulf, with whose mental ability he was struck
during his Athelney wanderings, duly educated for the
ministry, and ultimately preferred him to the bishopric of
Winchester. ' But never suffered he an unlettered man to
hold any ecclesiastical dignity whatsoever.' It is attested
also by the anxiety shown by the annalists of every notable
place of education in England to connect their foundation in
some way with Alfred.

§ 5. In the case of Cambridge it is just possible that the
University may really be able to trace a very remote and
indirect descent from his exertions through the little College
of priests which he is said, with some plausibility, to have set
up at Ely. But in that of Oxford, though the claim is
supported by an elaborate story inserted into the chronicle of
Asser, it is scarcely possible that even so much as this thread
can be conceded. For in Alfred's day the superior con-
venience of the passage over the Thames at Oxford, which
afterwards gave the city its special importance, both com-
mercial and military, and thus led to its educational pre-
eminence, does not seem to have been known. The great
crossing point of the river was then the old British ford,
Wallingford ; near which, accordingly, we find both the chief
ecclesiastical centre of the period, Dorchester, the seat of the
' bishop-stool ' (afterwards transferred to Lincoln) of the
immense diocese which (until 1840) stretched from the
Thames to the Humber, and also the chief military centre,
the now utterly obscure village of Bensington.

§ 6. Fictions such as these University legends are based
upon the solid historical fact that Alfred was indeed the first
to formulate the aspiration which actually did in due time
bring Oxford and Cambridge into being — that an English
clergyman should be a man of culture. ' Never suffered he
an unlettered man ' to hold office in the Church ; and he
everywhere revived the monastic life, which had all but
perished amid the Danish troubles, and which dotted the
land thickly in every direction with establishments bound by

48 Alfred in the Cln'oniclers

the very law of their being each to prove a centre of culture
for its neighbourhood. * Plain living and high thinking' was
the rule of their cloisters, and a rule, for the most part, well
kept down to the very end of their existence, making them
for many a long century the salt of the earth in England, the
influence which preserved for us religion, literature, art, and
science, all that shines out most brightly in the personality of
Alfred. It may well be that to Alfred we owe the principle
which was formally embodied in the laws of his successors,
and which still differentiates the Anglican Church from every
other religious body, that every English clergyman should be
entitled to ex officio rank as a gentleman. Every parish priest
was reckoned a ' thane,' a word which, originally signifying
the attendant on a military chief, early became equivalent to
* gentleman,' as the word * esquire,' by precisely the same
development, has done since.

§ 7. And, while thus providing for the education of his
people, Alfred was eaten up by anxiety for his own mental
progress. ' Ever would he complain . . . that he was ignorant
in Divine wisdom and in the liberal Arts,' and even declare
himself unable to read {i.e., in the scholarly sense of the
word), though ' he had gained some knowledge of almost
every book in the world.' And, 'as lights to lighten him
onwards,' he gathered round him a galaxy of the best
intellects of the day, not only from his own dominions, but
from neighbouring lands. Amongst these was Asser, a monk
of St. David's, who somewhat unwillingly was brought to
leave his native land for ' Saxony,' but who, when once
under Alfred's spell, became the most devoted of adhe-
rents, and who has left us the most vivid picture of his hero
and ours. The King rewarded his devotion by preferment
after preferment, giving him ' at twilight one Christmas
Eve ' the two monasteries of Amesbury and Banwell, ' with
a silken pall of great price, and as much incense as a
strong man might carry ' ; and finally making him Bishop of
Exeter.

§ 8. It was in 885 that Asser first became an inmate of
Alfred's Court, and in 893 he wrote his biography. He has
all the charm of a Boswell in his naive simplicity, and the

1

Introductory Sketch 49

straightforward self-satisfaction which mingles with his hero-
worship. Take, for example, the following anecdote :

§ 9. ' In this year X^'^'J^ did Alfred, King of the Anglo-Saxons,
first begin, by Divine inspiration, on one and the self-same
day, the venerable feast of St. Martin, both to read^ and to
interpret. But that I may explain this more fully ... I
will relate the cause. ... It came to pass on a certain day
we were both sitting in the King's chamber, conversing on all
kinds of subjects, as was our wont. And it chanced that I
recited to him a quotation [testimonium] from a certain book.
He heard it attentively with both his ears, and pondered it
deeply in his heart. Then suddenly showing me a book
which he carried in his bosom, wherein were written the
Daily Courses and Psalms and Prayers which he had read
from his youth up, he bade me write therein that same
quotation. Hearing this, and perceiving his willing wit and
his devout eagerness for Divine wisdom, then gave I (though
silently) boundless thanks to Almighty God, raising my
hands towards heaven, that He had implanted in my King's
heart such devotion to wisdom.

§ 10. ' But I could not find any empty space in the book
wherein to write the quotation, for it was already quite full of
many a matter ; wherefore I made some small tarrying, chiefly
thereby to stir up the bright intelligence of the King. . . .
And when he urged me to make haste and write it speedily,
I said unto him, " Wilt thou that I should write it on a
separate leaf? For it is not certain but that we may yet find
another such extract, or even more, that may please you.
And should that so be, we shall be glad to have kept them
separate." " Try that plan," he replied. Then gladly did I
haste to make ready a fresh sheet [quarternio] at the begin-
ning, whereon I wrote the extract even as he bade. And
that self-same day I wrote also on that sheet no less than
three more quotations at his bidding, even as I had foretold.
And every day after, as we talked, did we find other like
passages, till the sheet grew wholly full. . . ,

§11.* Even as a busy bee rangeth far and wide, searching
through the wilds [gronnios], even so did he ever eagerly get

^ /.<?., as a scholar.

50

Alfred m the Chroniclers

together many a flower of the Divine Scriptures, with which
he filled to overflowing the cells of his heart . . . and set them in
one book, as he might, one with another, by no regular plan,
till it grew by degrees to the size of a Psalter. And this
volume he called his Encheiridion, or Manual, or Handbook,
because he kept it hard at hand both night and day, and drew
therefrom, as he would say, no small comfort'

CHAPTER X.

Alfred's publications — 'The Consolations of Boethius' — Bede's 'His-
tory of the Anglican Church' — Orosius' 'History of the World' —
Its purpose — ' Flowrets from St. Augustine' — Gregory's 'Pastoral
Care.'

I.

N

OR did Alfred keep the comfort of his gathered
learning to himself. His * Handbook ' itself
seems to have been published, as we learn from
William of Malmesbury, though, unhappily, no copy of it is
now known. And the amount of literary work which he pro-
duced is truly marvellous. He was continually bringing out
book after book, and the above-named authority tells us that
when he died he was engaged on yet another — a translation
into English of the Psalter. In theology he translated and
edited St. Gregory's ' Pastoral Care,' and a selection which
he called * Flowrets from St. Augustine ' ; in philosophy,
' The Consolations of Boethius ' ; in history, Orosius and
Bede, the two leading authorities of the day on the subject in
its general and English aspects respectively ; besides re-editing
the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, with amplifications which turn it
from a mere dry record of names and dates to a living his-
torical work.

§ 2. This way of dealing with his subject-matter is charac-
teristic of Alfred. He invariably, even in his translations, made
the work his own. As he says in his preface to Boethius,
* Sometimes he set word by word, sometimes meaning by
meaning,' this latter phrase including exceedingly free
handling of his author, to whose moralizings (especially in

4—2

52 Alfred in the Chroniclers

their metrical portions) he constantly gives an entirely new
turn. In Boethius, Christian though he was, we find strangely
little reference to the Christian sources of consolation. But
to Alfred Christianity is everything, and he never fails to
supply this lack in every poem that he renders.

^ 3. Take, for example, the ode with which Boethius con-
cludes his third book :

' Felix, qui potuit boni
Fontem visere lucidam ;
Felix qui potuit gravis
Terras solvere vincula.'

[Blest is the man who hath the power

Good's lucid fount to gain,
Blest, who hath power of this sad earth

To loose the binding chain.]

These opening lines, which might have been written by a
pagan philosopher, are thus expanded and Christianized by

Alfred :

' Lo ! of all upon earth
Is the happiest he
Who hath heart to behold
That clearest of waters
That welleth in heaven
With light from the Highest :
Who eke from himself
All swartness, all mist,
All the murk of his mood,
To scatter hath might.

* With God and His grace
By tales of old time
Thy thought will we teach,
Till thou readest aright
The highway to heaven.
That loved native land.
Own home of our souls.'

After this exordium, Alfred proceeds to give a free prose
translation, inserting such expressions as ' Well a way,' of the
beautiful poem of Boethius on Orpheus, and deduces (at
greater length) the same moral as the author ; viz., that he
who would lead his soul from darkness to light must never
cast a longing eye backwards.

Introductory Sketch 53

§ 4. The tragic story of Boethius is now almost forgotten,
but for many centuries he was held as the most noteworthy
of all exemplars of patience under unmerited adversity.
Chaucer, near the end of the Middle Ages, as Alfred near
their beginning, thinks it worth while to translate his ' Con-
solations of Philosophy ' into English ; — a task which, apart
from its connection with their great names, no writer would
nowadays care to enter upon. Boethius, long the trusted
minister of Theodoric, the great King of the Ostro-Goths,
whose reign gave Italy thirty years of peace amid the stress
of the barbarian inroads, fell at last under the unjust sus-
picion of his master, and was cast into prison at Ravenna,
the royal city which the King had just adorned with those
marvellous churches and mosaics still abiding amid its decay.
There he solaced himself by invoking Philosophy to help him
in bearing his hard lot, and composed a dialogue between her
and his soul, partly in prose and partly in verse, somewhat
laboured and frigid, but containing here and there lines and
sentences of real beauty. That the work appealed to the
heart of Alfred is the best proof that it is not without genuine
merit.

§ 5. In his dealing with Bede and with Orosius, Alfred
uses the same freedom — the freedom of a master in literary
work. He expands, abridges, paraphrases, as seems best to
him, with the result of making his author far more spirited
and readable than in the original. Orosius, in particular, he
enriches by the insertion of a complete geographical survey of
Europe, from original sources, such as the reports of the
navigator Othere, the discoverer of the North Cape and the
White Sea.

§ 6. Orosius, as has been said, was in Alfred's day the
accepted authority on general history, so generally accepted
that in his preface Alfred speaks of his history as ' the book
that men call Orosius,' just as we talk of * Herodotus ' or
' Thucydides.'

§ 7. It was, in fact, an epoch-making work, being the first
history written by a Christian and from a Christian stand-
point. Orosius was a friend both of St. Jerome and of
St. Augustine, and composed his work. at the request of the

54 Alfred in the Chroniclers

latter, who desired that the argument of his own * De Civitate
Dei ' should be worked out historically.

§ 8. Orosius accordingly, like Augustine, addresses himself
to the thesis that the world was, after all, the better and not
the worse for the rise of Christ's spiritual kingdom, even
though it rose upon the ruins of that mighty dominion which
had for centuries been the all-pervading influence throughout
the whole civilized world — the secular empire of Rome. At
the time when he wrote, the entire consciousness of mankind
was reeling under the shock of the capture of Rome by Alaric
and his Goths, its first capture since the days of Brennus and
his Gauls eight centuries before. Though the captors were
this time fellow-Christians, and prosecuted their success in an
incomparably milder and more Christian spirit than has ever
been done before or since at the sack of any city, yet the
tidings that Rome — the mighty Rome — had fallen, and by
barbarian hands, were felt everywhere like a moral earth-
quake, reverberating with a stunning shock through all hearts
and brains of men. This, then, was what had come of re-
nouncing the ancient gods, the gods of ' the brave days of
old,' when Rome was invincible, and the world lay in rest
and quiet under the aegis of her mighty name. This was
what had come of substituting for their immemorial worship
a new-fangled Syrian superstition, which belittled local
patriotism, and fixed men's minds on a shadowy world
beyond the grave.

. § 9. Such thoughts were surging in many a breast, and it
was to meet them that Augustine and Orosius wrote. They
saw, what at that crisis it took no small intuition to see, how,
in it all, God's great purposes were being worked out ; how,
by His appointment, there was still to be a world-wide
organization, whose aim should be the peace and well-being
of mankind ; how the Catholic Church was to take up the
mantle of the universal empire, as a kingdom * not of this
world,' relying on spiritual, not on earthly forces, transforming
Rome from the temporal into the spiritual metropolis of all
the earth. And their message struck home ; and thus it was
that four centuries later Alfred found the name of Orosius
still a household word throughout Latin Christendom, and

I

Introductory Sketch 55

edited his work along with that of Venerable Bede, the first
historian to compile the annals of the Anglican Church.

§ 10. The extent to which the continuation of Bede's history
in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle is due to Alfred is a matter on
which critics are still divided ; but, upon the whole, the evi-
dence goes largely to prove that to him indeed we owe the
inception of this great idea. From his day onwards we do
find that in many parts of England such a chronicle of current
events was kept by more than one of the greater abbeys, and
that all are from a common exemplar dating from his reign.
This chronicle forms the foundation on which every one of
our early historians has built, and it only ceased to be com-
piled when the wonderful galaxy of such historians which
shone out in the twelfth century seemed to render its con-
tinuance superfluous. The latest entry in any surviving copy
is that of 1 1 54, just about the time when Gaimar was writing
of Alfred to tell how he had begun the work:

' II fist escrivere un livre Engleis,
Des aventures, e des leis,
E de batailles de la terre,
E des reis ki firent la guere.'^

[Made he write an English book,
Of adventures and of law,
And of battles in the land,
And of kings who waged war.]

§ 1 1. Alfred's edition of the ' Pastoral Care of St. Gregory'
and his * Flowrets from St. Augustine ' are chiefly noteworthy
for the prefaces which he has prefixed to them. The latter
consists of a series of extracts, mostly from the saint's
' Soliloquies/ a work compared by Alfred to a wood full of
goodly trees, from amid which he cut beams and joists and
planks — 'yea, and helves to haft my tools withal/ for the
building of a palace for his soul. ' In every tree saw I some-
thing needful for my home. Therefore rede I every man
that can . . . that he fare to that same wood to fetch more
for himself . . . and build therewith many a comely house,
. . . and thereby may dwell merrily and softly, so as I yet

1 Line 3451.

56 Alfred in the Chroniclers

have not done. But He Who taught me, He to Whom this
wood was dear, He may make me to dwell softer in this
shifting cot while that I am in this world, and eke in the ever-
lasting home which He hath promised us by St. Augustine and
St. Gregory and St. Jerome and many another holy Father.
Yea, and I trow that, through the merits of all these. He will
both make this my path here smoother than heretofore, and
chiefly that He will enlighten the eyes of my mind, that I
may seek out the rightwise road to the everlasting home and
the everlasting glory which, through these holy Fathers, is
promised unto us. So be it.' . . .

§ 12. * No wonder is it, though men swink in their timber-
working and in their building. Yet would every man, when
he has built him a cot on his lord's lease, fain sometimes rest
him therein, and hunt, and fowl, and fish, and use it all ways
according to the lease, until the day that he may earn book-
land^ and perpetual holding, through his lord's grace. Even
so may the great Giver, Whose are both these shifting cots
and the everlasting homes. Who shaped both and wieldeth
both, — may He grant me that I be meet for each, both here
to be useful and thither to come.'

§ 13. The preface to Gregory's 'Pastoral Care' is better
known. Alfred begins by lamenting the decline of education
in England through the Danish wars.

' What wise men of old were there in Angle-kin . . . and
how happy were then the times . . . How earnest were
the religious . . . and how did outland men then seek wisdom
and learning in this land ! And now we must get these from
without if we would have them. So clean was learning fallen
off among English folk, that few there were on this side
Humber that could understand the Service in English, or
even turn an errand-writing from Latin into English. And
not many were there, I ween, beyond Humber. So few they
were that I cannot bethink me of so much as one south of
Thames, when first I took the kingdom. . . .

* Then I minded me how I saw, ere all was wasted and
burnt, how the churches throughout all Angle-kin stood filled
with hoard and books, and eke a great press of God's

^ /.(?., copyhold.

Introductory Sketch 57

ministers. Yet full little fruit wist they of those books, for
that they were not written in their own land-speech. . . .

§ 14. ' Then wondered I greatly of those good and wise
men of old, who had well learnt all those books, that they
were not fain to turn them into their own land-speech. Yet
soon did I answer myself, and said, " They weened not that
ever would men become so reckless, and our learning so fall
off; . . . and of set purpose did they let this alone, weening
there should be the more wisdom in the land the more
tongues we knew."

§ 15. 'Then did I mind me how the Law was first found
in the Hebrew tongue, and how, when the Greeks had learnt
it, then did they turn it all into their tongue, and eke all the
other books. And the Latins again, in like manner, when
they had learnt it, turned it all into their own tongue. And
likewise have all other Christian folk turned some part to
their own speech.

§ 16. * Wherefore I think it meet . . . that we, too, should
turn some books, which are most needful for all . . . into
that tongue we all do know ; and so bring it to pass (as well
we may, by God's help, if we have rest), that every youth
that now is in Angle-kin, of free men and men of wealth to
seek to such things, may be given over to teachers, while
they have no strength for other work, till such time as they
may know well to read English writing. After, let men
further teach them Latin, those whom they would bring
forward to a higher class.'

§ 17. And he ends by commending this book — 'in Latin
Pastoralis, and in English the " Hinds-book " ' — to each of his
Bishops, to be ' kept in the minster. For we know not how
long there may be such learned Bishops, as now, thank God,
there be everywhere. Therefore would I that the books be
always in their place, save only the Bishop have them with
him, or they be lent that others be written by them.' Then
he breaks into song :

' This errand-writing
Erst did Augustine
Over the salt sea
Bring from the southward

58 Aljred in the Chro7iiclers

Unto us islesmen.

As him afore-time

First had appointed

The Lord's own champion,

The Pope of Rome.'

[This serendgewrit
Augustinus
Ofer sealtne Sit
SuiSan brohte
legbuendum.
Swse him asrfore
Adihtode
Dryhtnes cempa
Rome Papa.]

i^ 18. Nor must we pass over the fact that Alfred supph'ed
chapter-headings and prefixed tables of contents to each of
his authors, an improvement hitherto unheard of in literary
work, which, simple as it seems now to us, betokened, in its
first conception, no small literary genius.

1

lllMIIIIIHIIIHIIIIIIIIIIMIIflllMIIWIiy«HIHIIIIIIHIIHIIWIIWIIWIirM

3i!\ ^ll^lP^l"Wll^■rll^.-llllJlliJll^ III! iiiuiii Jill .iiiiiiii JIM ....■■■ijn.jiiijiii 1111 jii.jniiiri iiinjinuiiuiKjiiLjin Jill. jnrf

CHAPTER XL

Alfred and Rome — Alms to Jerusalem and India — Home charities — •
Alfred's devotional life — His lantern.

o

§ I. /' ^ F Alfred's early devotion to Rome we have
already spoken ; and through life the Eternal
City and its ruler remained special objects of
his veneration. Year by year, even in the most troublous
times, special envoys passed between him and the Sovereign
Pontiff, carrying ' the alms of the West Saxons and King
Alfred ' to Rome, and returning with special blessings and
privileges and holy relics, including a portion of the True
Cross sent by Pope Marinus. So regular were these
embassies that the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle finds it worth
while to note as its sole entry for 889 : ' This year was there
no errand to Rome, save that King Alfred sent thither two
runners with letters.'

§ 2. Yet while thus devoted to the Holy See, Alfred's
Christian sympathies were not bounded by the horizon of
Rome. He established like communication with more distant
Christian communities, 'from the Tyrrhenian [Mediterranean]
sea to the utmost bounds of Ireland.' He interchanged letters
and presents with the Patriarch of Jerusalem ; and in 883, as
a signal mark of gratitude to God for the Peace of Wedmore,
even sent alms to the Christian churches of India which claim
to have been founded by St. Thomas. ' And there, thanks be
to God, full largely gained they the end of their prayer, even
after their vow^ to St. Thomas and St. Bartholomew,' * when the
foeman's host wintered in London '- [881]. The envoys brought

1 A.S. Chronicle, 883. ' Henry of Huntingdon, 883.

6o Alfred in the Chroniclers

back * many a strange and brilliant jewel, and of the aromatic
juice [? sugar] wherein that land aboundeth.'^

§ 3. And still more noteworthy were his home charities.
He had vowed, as Asser tells us, to devote to God's service
' half of all his wealth, such as rightly and lawfully came in
to him year by year,' ' for well knew he the words of the
Teacher : Then is money of true worth when it is handed over
to others. Almsgiving is the end of Owner ship. '"^ And he bade
his officers divide his revenues accordingly. ' The first part
set he for worldly uses, and bade that one third thereof should
be paid to his guards and the nobles that were his ministers
for the divers offices of his Court . . . according to their rank.'
[These officials succeeded each other according to a regular
rota, getting one month on duty and two off in every quarter.]
' The second of the three portions gave he to the workmen,
whom he had gathered from every nation, and had around
him in large number, men skilled in all kind of cunning work.'
And the remaining third of this Civil List was spent in
donatives to the many foreign guests 'who flocked unto him
from far and near.' ' For, whether they asked alms of him or
no, yet gave he unto them with wondrous bounty, to each
according to his several merits ; even as it is written, God
loveth a cheerful giver.

§ 4. ' But the second half of all his revenue ... he gave
unto God, bidding his ministers divide it with care into four
shares ; the first whereof should be discreetly bestowed on
the poor, of whatever nation, that came unto him. And on
this he bade that, so far as wit of man could answer, the rede
of Pope Gregory should be followed : Give not much to whom
you should give little, nor little to zvhom much, nor aught to
whom naught, nor naught to whom, aught.'

§ 5. The second share was given to the two monasteries of his
own foundation, the one for monks at Athelney, the other for
nuns at Shaftesbury ; the third to his schools, the fourth to
forward monastic [i.e., educational) work ' in all Saxony and
Mercia, also, by yearly course, in Britain, Cornwall, Gaul,
Armorica," Northumbria — yea, and sometimes in Ireland.'

^ William of Malmesbury, § 122. - Simeon of Durham, § 56 (887).

•^ Normandy.

Introductory Sketch 6t

§ 6. Alfred's enlightened liberality having thus provided a
wide and judicious scheme of Poor Relief and Education, 'then
minded he him of the word that is written : Whoso will give
alms let Jiim first give himself. And duly began he to think
out what he might offer unto God of the service of his own
body and soul ; for of this he purposed to dedicate to God no
less than of his outward wealth. Yea, moreover, and he
vowed, so far as his infirmity and occasions would permit, to
give up to God the full half of his service, by night and by
day, with a good will, and with all his might.

§ 7. 'But inasmuch as he could not readily tell the hours
by night, for the darkness (nor yet ofttimes by day, for the
storms and clouds), he bethought him how best and easiest,
trusting on God's mercy, he might duly perform and keep his
vow according to the tenor, even unto death. After long
thought thereon, he at length, by shrewd wit, bade his
chaplains find him wax of due fineness, and so weighed he it
out. And when there was in the scales so much as would
match the weight of 72 pennies, then taught he the chaplains
to make six candles thereof, of one length, so that each
candle might have twelve inches [uncias pollicis] marked
thereon.

§ 8. * By this plan did these six candles burn for twenty-four
hours, without fail, before the sacred relics of many a saint of
God, which were ever with him wheresoever he went. Yet
sometimes would they not burn a whole day and night . . .
from the force of the wind, which blew without ceasing through
the doors and windows of the churches, the chinks in the
walls, or the holes in the canvas of tents. . . . Therefore
took the King thought, how he might shut out the wind, and
like a wise and cunning craftsman, bade he a fair lantern to
be made of wood and white ox-horn (which, when skilfully
planed thin, is no less clear than glass). Wondrously, then,
was this lantern made . . . and a candle therein shone as
brightly as without, and was not put out by the wind, for the
opening of the lantern was also closed up, at the King's bode,
by a door of horn. By this device then did the six candles,
lighted each in turn, last the four-and-twenty hours, neither
more nor less.'

62

Alfred in the Chroniclers

§ 9. The wealth of detail here given strikes us at first as
foolish with regard to so simple-seeming an invention. But
the idea of a lantern only seems simple because so familiar to
us. Its first inception was a true flash of genius, and had all
the simplicity of genius. And, strange as it may seem, the
idea never does seem to have occurred to anyone before
Alfred. Even in the most civilized period of classical
antiquity unprotected oil-lamps and torches were the only
means of lighting known. Nor does the plan of measuring
time by the burning of a candle appear to have been practised,
the dropping of water being the gauge in use amongst the
Greeks and Romans. Alfred's candles must have been thin
rods of wax (as they burnt down at the rate of 3 inches per
hour), with wicks presumably made of linen thread (of course,
not plaited, and thus requiring frequent snuffing). Each
candle apparently weighed i ounce Troy, being 12 penny-
weights. A modern i-inch wax candle, with plaited wick,
weighs I J ounces per foot, and burns at the rate of i\ inches
per hour.

CHAPTER XII.

Alfred's laws — The Witan — His introduction to the code — Offences
against the person — Against property — Dog's first bite — Sanctuary —
Statutory holidays — Observance of Sunday — ' Church-scot.

§ I. ^ M ^ HE sense of order and method, which come out
I so strongly in Alfred's disposition of his time

K and of his revenue, must have combined with

his intense desire for the maintenance of justice and the
spread of knowledge amongst his people, in suggesting to
him the codification of the floating traditions which at this
date made up English law. The practices and principles
which by immemorial user were binding in the common law
of the land had indeed been partly written down in statutes
known by the name of Ina, King of Wessex, dealing chiefly
with offences against property, and in those of Ethelbert, the
first Christian King of Kent, dealing chiefly with ofl"ences
against the person. There was also a Mercian statute-book
attributed to their greatest King, Ofla. There existed, more-
over, many records of single cases decided as precedents ' by
many synods of holy Bishops, and eke other high courts of
Witan. . . . And in many synod-books they wrote, here
one doom, there another.

§ 2. ' I then, Alfred, King, gathered these together, and
had written down many of those that our forefathers held,
such as liked me. And many that liked me not set I aside,
with advice of my Witan, and on other wise bade to hold
them. ... I then, Alfred, King of the West Saxons,
showed all these to my Witan. And they then said that it
liked them well all for to hold.'

64 Alfred m the Chr'Ofiiclers

S 3. The *Witan,* it may be mentioned, was the embryo
Parliament of the Anglo-Saxon constitution, not yet a
representative body (a development which did not obtain till
the thirteenth century), but the general assembly of the
realm, in which every free-born Englishman had a right to
appear in person and to vote, or, if it pleased him, to speak
also, on any proposition brought forward by the executive
government. As a matter of fact, few but the leading men
of each district practically took the trouble to attend at any
place of meeting remote from the district. And only the
higher aristocracy were personally summoned by the King's
writ. The Witan thus constantly tended to become more
and more a House of Lords ; and, indeed, our present House
of Lords represents by a succession of unbroken continuity
this primitive feature of every Teutonic constitution. But a
real original 'Witan ' may still be seen in full activity in the
general assemblies of some of the Swiss cantons, at which
every citizen attends armed, under the open sky, and expresses
assent or dissent, not by formal voting, but by unmistakable
acclamation. Such was the body to whose approval Alfred
submitted his new code of English law.

§ 4. And it is specially characteristic of Alfred's genius
that in so doing it was no mere dry codification of offences
and penalties that he laid before his people. Not only did he
make the enactments of previous legislators his own by
careful revision ; but he gave his work a literary and religious
finish, by prefixing to it a digest of the Mosaic law (omitting
the ceremonial clauses), with a conclusion of his own pointing
out how the severe spirit of that law was modified by that of
the new law of Christ. He thus begins with a free version
of the Ten Commandments :

§ 5. * The Lord was a-speaking this Word to Moses ; and
thus He said :

' I am the Lord thy God. I led thee forth out of the
Egyptians' land and out of their bondage.

' Love thou not other strange Gods above Me.

* Nor My Name take thou idly ; for that thou beest not
guiltless with Me if thou idly takest My Name.

' Mind that thou hallow the Rest-day. Work ye six days,

J

Introductory Sketch 65

and on the seventh rest you. For that in six days Christ
made heaven and earth, the seas, and all creatures that are in
them, and rested Him on the seventh day, and therefore the
Lord hallowed it.

' Honour thy father and thy mother that the Lord gave
thee, that thou be the longer living on earth.

' Nor slay thou not.

' Nor commit thou not fornication.

' Nor steal thou not.

* Nor speak thou not false witness.

' Nor covet thou not thy neighbour's goods unrighteously.

* Nor work thee not golden gods nor silvern.'

[This last precept is verse 23 of Exodus xx., and forms no
part of the Ten Commandments, though it seems to be intro-
duced here to make np the number. It must be remembered
that while, from the first, ten was the recognised number of the
Commandments (see Deut. iv. 13), the details of the numera-
tion have also from the first varied. The division made in
Deuteronomy v. differs from that in Exodus xx., though the
precepts are identical. And it is this Deuteronomical division
which has been generally accepted amongst Christians ; both
the Roman and Greek Churches agreeing in considering what
Protestants call the second Commandment as part of the
first, and making * Neither shalt thou desire thy neighbour's
wife' the ninth. The Protestant numeration came in at the
Reformation, with a view to emphasizing the prohibition of
images. The Jews have made up their 'Ten Words' on yet
a third system, agreeing with Catholics in regarding the
Protestant first and second as one, and with Protestants in
uniting the Catholic ninth and tenth, but considering the
first * Word ' to be : 'I am the Lord thy God which brought
thee forth out of the land of Egypt, out of the House of
Bondage.']

v^ 6. The precepts found in Exodus xxi., xxii., xxiii., follow
almost entire, with the substitution of * Christian' for 'Hebrew'
in xxi., ver. 2, and the omission of the dedication of the first-
born (xxii. 29). The institution of the sabbatical year is
also omitted. At the end of xxiii. 13, Alfred continues thus :

§ 7. 'These be the dooms that Almighty God Himself

5

66 Alfred i?i the Chroniclers

spake unto Moses, and bade him to hold. And since the
Lord's only-begotten Son, our God, that is our Saviour
Christ, came on this middle earth,^ He said that He came not
to break these bodes, nor to forbid them, but with all good
to eke them out ; and mild-heartedness and lowliness of mind
did He teach.

^ 8. * Then, after His Passion, ere His Apostles were gone
forth to teach all the earth, and while yet they were together,
many heathen people did they turn to God. Thus, while
they were all together, they sent errand-doers to Antioch and
to Syria to teach Christ's law. Then when they understood
that they sped not, then sent they an errand-writing to them.
And this is the errand-writing that all the Apostles sent :

§ 9. *'' To Antioch and to Syria and to Cilicia, that be
now from heathen peoples turned to Christ.

'"The Apostles and the Elder Brethren wish you health.
And we give you to wit that we have heard that some of our
fellowship have come to you with our words, and bade you
to hold a heavier way than we bade them, and have too much
misled you with their manifold ordinances, and have rather
perverted your souls than set them right.

* " Then we assembled us together on this, and it seemed
good to us all to send Paul and Barnabas, men that will give
their lives for the name of the Lord. With them we send
Judas and Silas to tell you the same.

' " It seemed good to the Holy Ghost and to us that we lay
no burden upon you above that which is needful for you to
hold : that is, then, that ye forbear from the worship of devils-
guilds, and from the partaking of blood and of things strangled,
and from fornication, and that ye do not unto others as ye
would not they should do unto you."

§ 10. * From this one doom a man may understand that he
should doom all aright. Nor needeth him none other doom-
book. Let him take heed that he doom to no man as he
would not that he should doom to him, if he sought doom of
him.

* Since it came to pass that many peoples took on the Faith

^ Middangeard. This was a common name for the world, as being below
heaven and above hell.

Introductory Sketch 67

of Christ, there were many synods held in all the earth, and
eke in Angle-kin, since they took to the Faith of Christ, of
hoi}/ Bishops and other High Courts of Witan.

S^ II. 'Then set they forth, through the mild-heartedness
that Christ taught, for almost every misdeed, that the secular
authorities might, with their goodwill, without sin, at the first
offence, take their fee-boot that they then awarded. But for
treason against a lord they durst proclaim no such mild-
heartedness, for that Almighty God made none such doom to
them that slighted Him, nor Christ, the Son of God, to him
that sold Him. And He bade love a lord as Himself.'

§ 12. The last sentence is an entirely original application
of Christ's precept as to Caesar and God (Matt, xxiii.), and
illustrates the special severity with which high treason was
from the first regarded by English law. The option of
condoning almost all other offences for a ' fee- boot,' or
pecuniary penalty, was an immemorial principle in all
Teutonic legislation, though Alfred apparently attributes its
introduction to the milder spirit infused by Christianity. In
his code the system is carried out to the most elaborate pitch,
a regular scale of fines being drawn up for every conceivable
form of theft or of violence ; for petty larceny, highway
robbery, housebreaking, rioting, slander, false imprisonment,
and no fewer than thirty-three distinctly specified kinds of
mutilation.

§ 13. An ear, for example, is priced at 60 shillings, as is
also the tongue, the nose, or an eye, ' but if it yet be in the
head, though he may see nought therewith, let the third part
of the boot stand.' A front-tooth is 8s., a 'cheek-tooth'
1 25., 'and a man's tusk is 15s. worth.' Not only has each
finger its value (the thumb 30s. ; ' the shooting-finger,' i.e.^ the
fore-finger, 15s. ; the middle 12s. ; the third, ' the gold [ring]
finger,' 17s. ; the little finger 9s.), but each nail also, from 5s.
for a thumb-nail to is. for that of the little finger.

§ 14. The value of all these sums must be multiplied from
twenty to thirty fold to correspond with their present
purchasing power, so that it would seem as if comparatively
few could escape by their payment from the imprisonment or
corporal chastisement (' hide-gild ') which the code speaks

5—2

68 Alfred in the Chroniclers

of as the alternative. But no scale for this is given, and we
have to remember that every Englishman was by Alfred's
ordinance a member of a certain district, called a ' Hundred,'^
which was responsible for his good behaviour and for any
fines he might incur. The ' Hundred-Court,' which met once
a quarter, was empowered to deal with its own offenders
according to their ' tithings,' these last divisions being
practically equivalent to our parishes. The code, accordingly,
makes careful provision for the formalities to be observed
when a man changes his place of residence, and imposes
heavy penalties (120 shillings) for their non-observance.

§ 15. The fines for certain transgressions varied according
to the rank of the injured party. Thus, to break into a house
belonging to the King was 120 shillings. An Archbishop
might be burglarized for 90s., a suffragan or an Alderman for
60s., a ' twelve-hind ' man for 30s., a ^ six-hind ' for 20s.,
while a churl could only claim 5s. The ' churl,' it may be
mentioned, was the lowest class of free land-owner, the status
of members of the thanehood (or squirearchy) above him being
estimated by the number of labourers (* hinds ') employed by
each. The traditional proportion of these to his arable land
was one for every 10 acres. A 'twelve-hind' man would
thus hold 120 acres, a 'hide ' of land. ^ Yet even against the
churl offences were far from cheap. To ' swinge ' him cost
20s., to imprison him or to shave his head 30s., and even his
beard might not be meddled with under los.

§ 16. In the light of recent judicial decisions, it is interest-
ing "to note that, under Alfred, a dog was not, as now, legally
entitled to his first bite.

' If a hound slit or bite a man, let the owner pay for the
first misdeed 6s. [equivalent to some ;^io now], for the next
I2S., for the third 30s.' And in any further case he had also
to pay the full ' were ' — or compensation according to damage
— in addition. To 'keep' the dog or give him meat was
sufficient to prove you his responsible owner.

^ William of Malmesbury, § 122. The name was probably derived from the
number of 'hides' in the area, a 'hide' being about 120 acres. The hundreds,
which may still be seen marked on old-fashioned maps, thus contain about twenty-
five square miles on an average.

^ An entry in the Ramsey Cartulary (Rolls Series, vol. i., p. 120) incidentally
mentions that 11 hides — 44 virgates=: 1,320 acres.

Introductory Sketch 69

§ 17. All offences committed ' while the army is out '
are doubly fined, as is also the case during Lent, or if
any sacrilege is involved. Any breach of sanctuary incurs,
besides compensation, a fine of 120 shillings, and stealing
from a church the loss of the hand that did the deed. 'He
that stealeth on Sunday night, or at Yule, or Easter, or on
Holy Thursday, or on " gang " days,^ for each be there two-
fold boot, as in Lent.' Every consecrated church might give
sanctuary even to a known criminal for a week. ' And eke
church-frith is that if any man seek a church for any crime
not yet known, and there confess it in God's name, be it half
forgiven.'

§ 18. Statute holidays are commanded on Christmas Day,
and twelve days after, on ' the day that Christ overcame the
devil ' (Ash Wednesday), on St. Gregory's Day (March 12),
on Easter Day, with the week before and the week after, on
the Feast of SS. Peter and Paul (June 29), ' and in harvest the
full week before St. Mary's Mass ' {i.e., the Feast of the
Assumption, August 15), on All Saints' Day, and on the
Wednesday of the four Ember weeks. On these holidays no
work could be required of any free men in the performance of
the customary services which they rendered in lieu of rent to
their landlord, who was thus thrown back at these periods on
such labour as he could hire or that of his own ' theow-men '
(or slaves), if he had any. But even these might not be em-
ployed on Sunday. * If a theow-man work on Sunday at his
lord's behest, be he free, and the lord forfeit 30 shillings. If
he work without behest let him suffer in his hide. If a free-
man work that day let him forfeit his freedom or 60 shillings.
And let a priest be held doubly guilty.'

§ 19. This last enactment is of special interest, as showing
that we owe that stricter and more primitive observance of
the Lord's Day which it is the boast of Anglo-Saxons to
continue, not, as is commonly supposed, to the Puritans of
the sixteenth century, but to a much earlier source. Alfred's
legislation on this point is taken from that of Ina (A.D. 688),
and is repeated and amplified by later Saxon codes. That of

^ /.^., Rogation days, so called from the old custom of going round the parish
bounds in procession, singing the Litany, on those days.

70 Alfred in the Chroniclers

xAthelstane (a.D. 925) adds; * If anyone market on Sunday
he shall lose the goods, and eke thirty shillings ' ; while
Ethelred (A.D. 980) bids * the Sunday feast be rightly kept
by all. Let markets and folk-motes, huntings and worldly
works, be straitly kept from on that holy day. The Mass-
Priests shall on the Sunday give the people the sense of the
Gospel and Epistle in English, and tell out in English the
Paternoster and the Credo, to the end that all folk may learn
the Christian Faith on that day.' And though a laxer tone
was introduced by the ecclesiastical adventurers who swarmed
over at the Conquest, yet the old English ideal of Sunday
never died out, and is again and again mentioned as one of
the features of every religious revival in our land right down
to the Reformation.

§ 20. Alfred also enacts that every child must be baptized
within a month under a penalty of 30 shillings. If after that
it dies unbaptized, the party responsible forfeits ' all what-
soever he owneth.' The appointed church-rate (* church-
scot ') had to be paid each year by Martinmas, defaulters
being mulcted in 60 shillings, and twelve-fold their 'scot.'^
And if anyone who had ' forfeited his hide ' sought refuge in
a church, ' be the swingeing forgiven him.'

§ 21. Such was the merciful code of Alfred, in which the
death-penalty is conspicuous by its absence. It was reserved,
indeed, as we have seen was Alfred's principle, for treason
alone. This guilt might be incurred either actively or
constructively (by harbouring traitors), and could only be
atoned by the forfeiture of life and goods. But the accused
had opportunity to clear himself, if he could, before his lord.

1 This word is the name of the oldest Saxon coin, Xkio. scc&tta, a small silver piece,
about the size of a threepenny-bit, bearing some rude imitation of Roman coinage.
The phrases ' scot-free ' and ' to pay your shot ' are derived from it.

CHAPTER XIII.

Death of Alfred — Encomiums of chroniclers — His burial — The * Proverbs
of Alfred'— His work completed by his children.

H

§ I. X T ISTORIANS are divided as to the period of
Alfred's life in which this great work of legis-
lation was done. It seems probable, indeed,
that he began it early, and did not conclude it till towards
the end of his reign. After all, he was only fifty, when,
'shattered by the toil of the Danish wars '^ in 900,^ ' six days
before All-Hallow-mass ' {i.e., October 26), 'Alfred, the Truth-
teller,^ a hero mighty in battle, prudent, religious, and wise
beyond all, to the great woe of his people, went the way of
all flesh ;^ ' that steadfast stay of the West Saxons, full of
justice, bold in arms, learned in speech, and, beyond all else,
filled with divine lore ;'* * renowned, warlike, victorious, the
devoted champion of widows, orphans, and poor ; so skilled
in Saxon song-craft ; the darling of his people ; kind of
speech to all, and free of hand ; endued with prudence, forti-
tude, justice, and temperance; so patient under his daily
infirmity; so fair and so sagacious in executing justice; so
watchful and so devout in God's service.'^ ' His unwearied
rule,' says Henry of Huntingdon, * his never-ending toil, may
I not worthily set forth, save in verse :

' Thine own greatness inborn, O Alfred mighty in battle,
Made thee a teller of truth, and truth-telling made thee a doer.

1 'Book of Hyde.'

■^ I do not propose to enter into the vexed question of the year of Alfred's
death. See Appendix B.

^ Asser. ^ Ethelwerd. ^ Florence of Worcester.

72 Alfred in the Chroniclers

And thy doing of deeds hath made thee a name everlasting.
Not without sadness thy joy, thy hopes with fear interwoven.
Ever, when worsted, thou madest thee ready to fight on the morrow,
Ever, when victor, the more didst thou dread thee to fight on the morrow —
Stained were thy garments with sweat, with gore thy falchion bepainted,
Marking how heavily weighed upon thee the burden of kingship.
Nay, for in all the wide world like thee we find not another.
Who, mid so many an ill, might breathing-space gain for a moment.
Never could foeman's steel his steel beat down from his hand-grip ;
Never was forged the blade that could end his toil with a sword-stroke.
Now, when the woes of his reign and his lifelong labours are over,
Christ be to him true Rest, be Christ his Kingdom unending. '^

§ 2. ' He was buried, as was meet, with kingly worship in
the royal city of Winchester, in the Church of St. Peter, Prince
of the Apostles,' 'in the New Minster, where, with the just, he
awaiteth the garment of immortality and a glorious resurrec-
tion,'2 ' when he shall once again be crowned.'^ ' O reader,
pray thou thus : '* Christ, Redeemer, save Thou his soul." '*

§ 3. ' The Book of Hyde ' mentions that he was at first
buried in Winchester Cathedral, till 'through the folly of the
canons,' who fancied that he ' walked,' his son Edward trans-
lated his remains to the New Minster, Hyde Abbey, which
Alfred had himself founded. There his tomb ' of most pre-
cious porphyry'^ remained an object of veneration till broken
up, along with many another royal and saintly sepulchre, by
the greed of Henry VHI.

5^ 4. But no tombstone was needed to keep the memory of
Alfred green in the hearts of Englishmen. From age to age
his name was handed on as the saint and hero that he was,
and the echoes of his wisdom were passed from lip to lip, till
every wise saying that found acceptance amongst English folk
was fathered, whether truly or mistakenly, on him. Thus came
into being that wonderful work, 'The Proverbs of Alfred,'^
selections from which will most fittingly conclude our sketch

^ For the Latin see Henry of Huntingdon, § 17.

- Florence of Worcester. ^ Roger of Wendover.

4 Ethelwerd. •'"' Chronicle of St. Neots.

'° This poem is found in only two MSS. — ^one in the library of Trinity College,
Cambridge, the other in that of Jesus College, Oxford. It has been published by
Kemble, in his ' Dialogue of Solomon and Saturn,' and by Morris, in his 'Old
English Miscellany.' I do not know of any translation ; but that which I give
here is practically word for word, and absolutely metre for metre. The whole
series of the ' Proverbs ' runs to several times the length of the extracts here
rendered.

Introductory Sketch 73

of his life. The poem in its present form dates from the
twelfth or thirteenth century, but it may well be founded on
something much older. And the words it puts into Alfred's
mouth show, at least, a true insight into his heroic and saintly
nature. Thus it runs :

Sat there at Seaford
Many a thane,
Many wise Bishops,
Much folk book-learned ;
Proud were the earls there,
Noble the knights.

There was Earl Alfric,
Wise he in law-lore ;
There too was Alfred,
England's darling,
England's shepherd,
England's King.

Them gan he learn,
As now ye hear,
How they their life
Might bestmost lead.

Alfred was of England King,
Strong and skilled in everything ;
He was King, and he v/as clerk,
Loved he full well God's work ;

Wise in word,

And ware in deed ;
Sure the wisest man was he
Of all folk that England's be.

Thus quoth Alfred,
England's joy :
' Would ye, my folk.
List now your Lord,
Then should ye wit
Of Wisdom's way ;
How ye may this world's
Worship wield.
And eke your soul
To Christ may cleave.'

Wise were the words
That Alfred spake :
* Mildly I move you,
Dear my friends.

74 Alfred in the Chroniclers

Poor and eke rich,
People of mine,
That all do fear
Our Christ and Lord.
Love Him and please Him
Who Lord is of Life ;
He the One Good,
Over all goodness ;
He the One Wise,
Over all wisdom ;
He the One Blest,
Over all blessing ;
He the One Master,
Mildest of men ;
He the One Father,
He the One Helper,
Of each and all.
He the One Righteous,
So rich and so royal,
That nought of his need
That man shall fail
Who here on earth
Doth worship Him.'

Thus quoth Alfred,
England's stay :
' No King of right
'Neath Christ is throned,
But if of books
He wot the lore,
That he his writs
Can soothly read —
A lettered man ;
And look himself
How he his land
May hold with Law.'

'Earl is and Etheling^
Under the King,
The land to lead
With lawful deed ;
Both clerk and knight
With even right,
Both poor and rich,
To judge 'mid each.

^ /.(f., Prince.

Introductory Sketch 75

For so as man soweth
So also he movveth,
And every man's doom
To his own door doth come.

' Behoveth the knight

'Gainst foemen to fight,

Lest they harry the land

With fire-raising band ;

That the Church have her peace ;

And the churl be at ease,

His seeds for to sow,

His meads for to mow.

To the welfare of all.

To the knight this I tell,

Let him look to it well.'

Thus quoth Alfred :

' No, never should youth

Give him o'er to distress.

Albeit his case

Misliketh him sore,

And the thing that he would

He hath not to wield.

For God may yet give,

When that He will,

Good after evil,

Weal after woe :

And well is the man

That hath shapen it so.'

Thus quoth Alfred :

' Hard is it to row

'Gainst the tide in his flow ;

So is it to toil

'Gainst the heart's own turmoil.

Yet he that in youth

So to labour is fain.

World's wealth for to gain,

That in eld he may rest ;

And eke 'mid his wealth

Aye worketh God's will ;

His youth's hard spell

It hath sped him full well."

Thus quoth Alfred :
' If thou silver and gold
Hast to wield from of old,

76 Alfred in the Chroniclers

Yet never on earth

Take thou pride in thy birth.

It is not thine elders',

It is not thine own ;

All is but God's loan.'

Thus quoth Alfred :

' In the flood-tide of fortune

Ne'er put thou thy trust,

Though silver and gold

Thou hast untold.

To nought shall it come ;

To dust shall it drive ;

But the Lord, He liveth

For evermore.'

Thus quoth Alfred :

' If thou in thine eld

Art wasted in wealth,

And no more canst lead thee

With power nor with might,

And no more hast strength

For to steer thee aright ;

Then thank thy Lord

Of all His love,

And of all thine own life.

And the light of the day,

And of all the mirth

He maketh for man.

And whereso thou wendest,

Say this at the end :

V/hate'er 7iiay befal mc,

God's Will be do7ie'

Thus quoth Alfred :
' Son of my heart, come.
Sit thee beside me,
And I will instruct thee
In tracks of truth.
My son, I do feel
That paleth my face.
That fadeth my hue.
That faileth my heart.
My days be nigh done ;
Eftsoon must we part.
For I shall me wend
To the other world,

Introdtictory Sketch 77

And thou shalt outlive me
In all my wealth.

' My son, now I bid thee,
My dear one, my own,
Thou father thy folk.
And be thou true Lord.
To orphans be parent,
To widows be friend.
To poor men be comfort,
To weak men be stay ;
And wronged men right
With all thy might.
And keep thou the Law ;
And love thou the Lord ;
And think above all
Of God, with full mind ;
And bide till He rede thee
In all thy deed ;
The more shall He help thee
To all thy will.'

And the son here addressed was worthy of these touching
words, and of his noble father. Next to Alfred himself,
Edward the Elder is the monarch to whom England owes
most. Without such a successor Alfred's work must have
been in vain, and England, in spite of it, have broken up into
a shifting congeries of petty independent States — Danish for
the most part — with no national unity, and no splendid vista of
national development and national glory. For the averting of
this fate we have to thank the children of Alfred, Edward himself
and his heroic sister Ethelfled, who, as widow of the Mercian
Alderman Ethelred, was styled the * Lady of the Mercians.'

From the moment of their father's death, these two — the
same of whose promise in their youth so bright a picture is
drawn by Asser — set themselves to complete his work, and
to harvest the good seed sown by him. Their first task was
the systematic reduction of the Danish settlements in Mercia,
pursuant of Ethelfled's claim to the dominion of that whole
land, north as well as south of Watling Street. Here the
Danes had formed a group of military heathen oligarchies/

' Such as the ' Five Boroughs ' — Derby, Nottingham, Leicester, Lincoln, and
Stamford.

78 Alfred in the Chroniclers

holding down the old English and Christian populations in a
kind of serfdom. One by one these were brought under, and
curbed by fortified posts, scientifically placed at strategic
points, whose names, like St. Neot's and St. Ives (from the
Cornish town so called), still bear witness to their West
Saxon origin.

And finally, such was the respect inspired by this steady
and irresistible advance of the native power, that not only
did every district of England acknowledge Edward as King,
but the whole of Britain bowed to his sway. The Scots and
Picts beyond the Forth, the Britons of Strathclyde and
Cumbria, the various Welsh principalities from the Wirral to
the Severn Sea, all alike * took him to Father and to Lord.'
Under his suzerainty the whole island became, for the first
time in history, united in one political entity, and the British
Empire had begun.

Such was the outcome of the life-work of Alfred.

TJ:•^!~^l.v.'J!J^s^i:s^•^LL^\lifJ!^vrf^'}^^Kf^'^ilJ^i^JJS^^

'■g;v.zg&y/.ss»y.^vA^a7''sa.. "-^

APPENDIX A.

The 'English School' in Rome.

THIS was a precinct in the Leonine City opening into the portico
of (old) St. Peter's to the North, and bounded by the Tiber to
the South. It is called in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle ' The
School of England ' [Angelcynnes Scolu]. In the Latin
chroniclers it is Schola Anglorum, or Saxonum, or Anglo-Saxonum. The
word schola had at that date no necessary connection with education,
but was used of any kind of corporate institution. That our School had
such a corporate organization we learn from the ' Liber Pontificalis '
(a.d. 800 and 846), where we also learn that the English themselves
called it a ' borough.' The name Borgo still clings to the site.

In early mediseval times every nation sending a sufficiently large
number of pilgrims to Rome seems to have had such a precinct ; we thus
read also of the French, Lombard, and Frisian ' Schools.' That of the
English contained many lodging-houses (domos), in which our pilgrims
found shelter and entertainment, and also a church dedicated to St. Mary
(S. Maria in Sassia [Saxonica], now S. Spirito in Sassia), which had the
then rare privilege of sepulture (A.S. Chron., 874), and was served by
a permanent colony of English ecclesiastics, the Superior being appointed
by Papal Bull. Innocent III. transferred them in 1204 to St. Pantaleone,
on the other side of the Tiber, and made over their old school to the
Knights of St. John. The existing ' English College ' in Rome dates
from the thirteenth century.

The School (founded by Ina, King of Wessex, 688) was twice burnt
out, once under Pope Paschal I. (817-824), and again in the first year of
Leo IV. (847). In both cases the preservation of the adjoining portico
of St. Peter's is ascribed to the special prayer of the Pope: Raphael,
in the Vatican stanse, shows us Leo IV. in the act of thus checking the
conflagration. At Alfred's visit in 853 the rebuilding of the place
(mainly at his father's charge) must have been in progress, and it was
probably on its completion that the precinct, at his request, was freed
from taxation by Pope Marinus (A.S. Chron., 885).

Able articles on this little-known subject will be found in the Dttdlht
Review, voL cxxiii.

So Alfred in the Chroniclers

APPENDIX B.
The Date of Alfred's Death.

The confusion of dates in the chroniclers, which causes some to place
Alfred's death in 899, others in 900, and others, again, in 901, arises from
the lack in the early Middle Ages of any generally accepted chronological
system. Our present A?t?to Dojnifti reckoning came into common use
about 550, the date of the Incarnation being then supposed to have been
conclusively established by the elaborate calculations of Dionysius
Exiguus (526). But there were never wanting critics who declared that
the true date was two (or four) years earlier than that adopted by him,
and Chroniclers were apt to be thus confused. Bede, for example, uses
in his 'Ecclesiastical History' our present reckoning, but in his
' Chronicles ' the VerKS Aiimis, two years behind it. Not till the twelfth
century did the supreme convenience of a universally recognised era
render these criticisms of merely academic interest.

A further source of error arose from the absence of any fixed New
Year's Day. Most early writers begin the year with the Incarnation
(]\larch 25), but some take the Nativity (December 25), some the
Circumcision (January i), whilst some reckon from the Crucifixion.
The Roman Era (A.U.C.) is also in use, and this began April 21,
though the Roman Civil Year commenced on January i. Some
chroniclers, again, reckon by regal years, and of these, some count as
the first year of any given King the whole of the civil (or ecclesiastical)
year in which his reign began, some the actual twelve months during
which he first sat on the throne.

Add the errors and amendments of copyists, and we can easily see how
the year given in one chronicle as 899 might be in another 900, and in
another 901. The wonder is that there is not much greater confusion.
Nor is it worth while to spend overmuch good time and thought in
attempting to harmonize these discrepancies. A mild balance of
probability between the rival dates is the best we can hope to attain, and
this, in my view, seems rather to incline to 900.

The whole involved question of the chronology of the mediaeval
historians is exhaustively dealt with by Mr. Petrie (' Monumenta Brit.,'
p. 103).

end of part I.

PART II.

EXTRACTS FROM THE CHRONICLERS, WITH
PREFATORY NOTICES.

PART II.

EXTRACTS FROM THE CHRONICLERS, WITH
PREFATORY NOTICES.

I.

ASSER.

* OF THE DEEDS OF ALFRED.'

THE biography of Alfred which goes under the name
of Asser is admitted by the all but unanimous
consent of historical criticism to be his indeed,
and to have come down to us (with the one or two very
obvious and unskilful interpolations noted as such herein-
after) substantially as the author left it.

Asser, as he himself tells us, was a monk of St. David's,
and an inmate of Alfred's Court from 884 onwards. His
chronicle ends so abruptly (in 893) that we may conjecture
it to be unfinished.

His personal acquaintance with Alfred, and his access to
first-hand sources of information for the whole period of
which he writes, render his work the foundation for every
subsequent attempt to portray our hero-King.

No ancient MS. of Asser is now known to exist, since that
in the Cottonian Collection perished by fire in 173 1. It was
edited by Parker in 1574, and again by Camden (1603), ^"d
by Wise (1722).

6—2

84

Alfred in the CJu^oniclers

CONTENTS.

SEC
I.

5-

8.

9-
lo.

12.

19.

21.
22.

24.

33-

34-

35-

37.
42.

43-

44.
46.
47-

48.

50.

Of Alfred's birth and parentage. 52.
How the Danes sacked London ;

and of the fight at Ockley ! 58.

How the English subdued Wales.
Of Alfred at Rome. | 61.

Of the Danes in Thanet.
How King Ethelwulf tithed the

realm, and how he wedded 64.

Judith, and what came thereof. 66.
How King Ethelwulf died, and of

his will. 69.
Of King Ethelbald.
Of King Ethelbert.

Of King Ethelred, and of the Danes 71.

in East Anglia.

Of Alfred's boyhood. 75.

Of the Danes at York. 80.
Of Alfred's wedding.

Of the Danes at Nottingham. 81.

How the Danes won East Anglia ; 82.

and of St. Edmund.

How the Danes came into Wessex ; 87.

and of the fighting at Englefield 90.

and Reading. 93.

Of the fight at Ashdown. 99.

Of the fight at Basing : and of the 100.

death of Ethelred. loi.

How Alfred was made King ; and 104.

of the fight at Wilton. 107.

How the Danes left Wessex. 112.
How they won Mercia. ' 118.
How they won Northumbria ; and ! 128.

how they took Cambridge. j 134.

Of the Danes at Wareham and '

Exeter. 1 138.

Of Alfred's fleet.

How the Danes overran all Wessex;

and of Alfred in Athelney.
How the Danes were worsted in

Devon;and of theRaven banner.
How the English rose against

the Danes ; and of the fight

at Ethandune.
Of the peace made at Wedmore.
How the Danes left Wessex ; and

of their deeds in France.
How they beset Rochester ;

and of the sea-fights at vStour-

mouth.
What befel among the Franks ;

and of Pope Marinus.
Of Alfred's thorn in the flesh.
Of his children, and their up-
bringing.
Of all his greatness.
Of his zeal and devotion to God

and man.
Of his learning.
Of the Teachers he called in.
Of his calling in Asser.
How the Danes beset Paris.
How Alfred built again London.
[Of Oxford.]
Of matters over-sea.
Of Alfred's Handbook.
Of his troubles and alms-deeds.
Of the Abbeys that he made.
How he parted out his money.
How he parted out his time ; and

of his lantern.
Of his justice.

Asser 85

ASSER.

To Alfred, King of the Anglo-Saxons, and Ruler of all Christian folk
within the Island of Britain, my kindest and inost worshipful Lord
a?id Master, Asser, lowest of all God's servants, -luisheth, for either
life, both here and hereafter, wealth a thousandfold, and answer to all
his prayer.

§ I. In the year of our Lord's Incarnation 849, at the royal town of
Wanating [Wantage], in the shire called Berrocscire [Berkshire] (drawing
this name from Berroc Wood, wherein the box-tree groweth freely), was
born the King of the Anglo-Saxons, Alfred,

jj 2. Son was he to King Ethelwulf, who was the son of Ecgbert, son
of Ealhmund, son of Eafa, son of Eowwa, son of Ingild. Full brethren
were Ingild and Ina, that far-famed King of the West Saxons ; who
wended him Rome-wards, and at Rome ended with good report this life
here, so to begin in the Kingdom of Heaven his reign with Christ.

§ 3. And these brethren were sons of Ceolwald, son of Cudarn [Cutha],
son of Cuthwine, son of Ceaulin,^ son of Cynric, son of Creoda, son of
Cerdic,'- son of Elesa, son of Gewis, from whom the Britons call all that
stock Gegwis.

[Asser continues the genealogy through eight more mythical genera-
tions to Geatta, whom, on the authority of the Latin poet Sedulius,
he declares to have been a Teutonic deity, and thence through ten
more descents to Shem, and so to Adam.]

j 4. Alfred's mother hight Osburga, a devout woman, and keen of wit
withal, great of heart as high in birth. Child was she of Oslac, the far-
famed cup-bearer of King Ethelwulf. Now this Oslac was by birth a
Goth, sprung both from Goths and Jutes, and of the stock of Stuf and
Wihtgar, brethren alike and earls. From their uncle, King Cerdic, and
his son, Cynric, their cousin, had they sway over the Isle of Wight. And
there, at a place hight Gwihtgara-burhg [Carisbrooke], slew they the few
British indwellers whom they found in that island ; for the other folk
thereof had been slain before, or had fled into exile.

§ 5. In the year 831 (the third of King Alfred's age) did Ceorl, earl of
Devonshire, with the men of Devon, fight the heathen at Wicam-beorg
[Wembury] ; and the Christians won. And in the same year the Heathen
wintered in the island called Scheapieg [Sheppey]," which, being inter-
preted, is Sheep Isle. It lieth in the Thames between Essex and Kent,
but nearer to Kent than to Essex, and hath a fair Minster therein.

§ 6. Also, in this same year, did a mighty heathen host, with 350 ships,
come in into Thames mouth, and laid waste Dorubernia [Canterbury],
the chief city of Kent, and eke London, which is on the march between

^ Bretwalda, a.d. 518.

^ The original leader of the West Saxons into Britain.

' The A-S. Chronicle says Thanei. See p. 11.

86 Alffcd in the Chroniclers

Essex and Middlesex ; howbeit it belongeth of right to Essex. And
Beorhtulf, King of Mercia, who came forth to meet them with all his
war-folk, did they put to flight. And thereafter the aforesaid heathen
host passed over into Surrey, which lieth on Thames-bank southward,
and from Kent westward.

§ 7. Then came Ethelwulf, King of the West Saxons, with Ethelbald,
his son, and with all his war-men, and fought with them no short battle,
at a place called Aclea [Ockley] , which meaneth Oak-lea. There strove
they long and long (for full stout was either side, and full bold), even
until the most part of that heathen horde was utterly overthrown and
slain, so that never heard we tell of their being so cut down in any place,
either before or since, in one day. And the Christians won them all
honour, and theirs was the death-stead. Moreover, in the same year
King Athelstane,^ son of King Ethelwulf, and Ealhere the earl, utterly
destroyed in Kent no small host of the Heathen, at a place called Sand-
wich. And nine of their ships took they ; and the rest gat them off
and fled,

§ 8. In A.D. 853, the fifth of King Alfred's age, Burghred, King of the
Mercians, sent an errand unto Ethelwulf, King of the West Saxons, and
besought of him aid against the Middle Britons, dwelling between Mercia
and the Western Sea \^ for, beyond all wont, were they striving against
his sway. Then King Ethelwulf, as soon as he heard the errand, hasted
him with his host, and brake into Britain [Wales], and King Burghred
with him. And so soon as he was in, then harried he the land, and
brought it all under Burghred, and so came home again.

§ 9. And in that same year did King Ethelwulf send his aforenamed
son Alfred to Rome, and many a peer with him, full worshipfully, and
many a commoner. Pope Leo held then the Apostolic See ;^ and he it
was who anointed for King this young Alfred ; yea, and confirmed him
also, and received him for his own son by adoption.

§ 10. And in this same year did Earl Ealhere, with the men of Kent,
and Huda, with the men of Surrey, stoutly turn to against a Heathen
host in the island called in Saxon tongue Tenet [Thanet], but in British
Ruim. At the first had the Christians the better ; yet waxed the fight
longer, notwithstanding ; and on either side were full many slain, and
full many were there plunged beneath the water and so drowned. And
there both those earls perished.

§ II. Also, in the same year, after Easter, did Ethelwulf, King of the
West Saxons, give his daughter in wedlock to Burghred, King of the
Mercians ; and at the town royal of Chippenham did he the wedding,
and that with kingly worship.

§ 12. In the 855th year of our Lord, and the 7th of the aforesaid

^ King of Kent, afterwards St. Neot. See p. 17.

^ /.^., in Wales, called the Middle Britons, as lying between the Cumbrians
and the Cornish. Wales had first been brought under English sway by Offa, King
of Mercia, but never permanently submitted till the days of Henry V.

•' See Introduction, p. 15.

Asser ^7

King [Alfred], there abode a mighty Heathen host for the whole winter in
the aforesaid Isle of Sheppey. In the same year did the aforesaid
worshipful King Ethelwulf free from all royal service and tribute a tenth
part of all his realm ; and by deed of gift hallowed he it for ever to God,
One and Three, on the Cross of Christ,^ for the welfare of his own soul
and the souls of his forefathers. And in the same year he wended him
to Rome, with mickle worship, and with him he took Alfred, his son
above-named, to tarry there yet a second time, inasmuch as he loved
him beyond all his other sons. And there abode he by the space of one
whole year. And thereafter came he back again to his own land, and
brought with him as a bride Judith, daughter of Charles, King of the
Franks.

vj 13. In the meantime, while King Ethelwulf was thus for a short space
abroad over-sea, there chanced in the parts west of Selwood a shameful
hap, clean against all Christian wont and righteousness. For King Ethel-
bald, his son, and Ealhstan, Bishop of Sherborne, along with Eanwulf,
Alderman of the shire of Summurton [Somerset], are said to have joined
them together in this treason, that King Ethelwulf, at his home-coming
from Rome, should never again be held for King. Many there be that
count this wickedness, unheard of in all bygone days, to the Bishop and
the Alderman only, and say that from their counsel the complot had its
beginning. Many, however, count it wholly to the overboldness of the
Etheling^ Ethelbald, inasmuch as he held fast thereto and eke to many
another crooked path ; whereunto certain witness is borne, yea, and
proved by the outcome that followed.

§ 14. For as King Ethelwulf was on his way back from Rome, this son
of his aforesaid, with all his counsellors, or rather conspirators, were fain
to do this wickedness of driving back the King from his own realm.
But neither did God suffer it, nor the Lords of all Saxony [i.e., the Witan
of Wessex] consent thereto. For lest a war between father and son
should bring upon Saxony cureless ill ; nay, lest the whole folk, taking
side with either, should day by day wax ever sterner and starker in civil
war ; by the unspeakable kindness of the father, and the doom of the
Lords one and all, the aforetime united kingdom was parted between the
father and the son. And the Eastern shires were adjudged to the father,
the Western to the son. For where the father of right should have
reigned, there reigned that wicked and self-willed son (for the Western
part of Saxony is ever counted above the Eastern).

§ 15. Then, when King Ethelwulf got back from Rome, the whole folk,
as was meet, were full glad of the old man's home-coming ; and, if he
would have suffered it, were fain to drive that self-willed son and his ill
counsellors quite and clean from the realm. But he, a"^ we have said,
all too kindly and prudently, forbade them this, lest it should bring into

^ I.e., laying his finger on the cross of his signature, as is now done with the
seal of a legal document. This method of attestation lasted till the Norman
Conquest.

2 Etheling (from the root Ethel = Noble) is the Anglo-Saxon equivalent for a
Prince of the Blood Royal.

<>8 Alf^^ed in the Chroniclers

hazard the safety of the realm. He bade, also, that Judith should sit
beside him on his kingly throne (and that without any murmuring or
ill-will of his Lords) even unto his life's end ; against the perverse wont
of that folk.

§ i6. For the West Saxon use suffereth not a Queen to sit beside a
King, nor yet to call her ' Queen,' but 'Consort' only. And this insult,
nay, infamy, as the elders of that land tell the tale, sprang from one
self-willed and evil-hearted Queen of that folk, whose deeds were so
wholly hateful to her lord and all the people, that not only won she such
hatred as to be herself cast out from the royal throne, but left the same
brand upon all that came after. For, because of her surpassing wicked-
ness, the whole folk of that land sware with one accord that never in his
life should any King reign over them if he were fain to bid his Queen sit
beside him on the throne royal. And because, as I think, but few know
whence this perverse and hateful custom, against the wont of all other
folk (Teutonic, to wit), first arose in Saxony, I think good to set forth, at
somewhat greater length, what I have heard thereon from my Lord and
Master, Alfred the Truth-teller, King of the Anglo-Saxons, who ofttimes
told me it himself, and that he had it from many a truthful tale which
spake in full thereof.

§ 17. There was in Mercia, of late \jnoder7io tempore], a certain King
of great might, dreaded by all the Kings and kingdoms around, by name
Offa — he who bade make from sea to sea the great dyke^ between Britain
[Wales] and Mercia. His daughter, named Eadburgh, did Beorhtric,
King of the West Saxons, take unto him in wedlock. And she, so soon as
she had gotten her the King's goodwill, and all but the whole sway of that
realm, then began she, after her father's wise, to live as doth a tyrant.
And against every man whom Beorhtric loved would she speak leasing,
and whatsoever things be hateful to God and to man, such would she do.
And all whom she might would she accuse unto the King, and thus take
their life, by her crafts, or their sway at the least. And if this she might
not gain from the King, then took she them off by poison. And thus was
it well proven as to a certain youth, dearly beloved of the King ; for,
when she might not belie him to the King, she worked his death by
poison. And the King, all unwittingly, is said to have tasted of that
poison (for she weened not to give it to him, but to the youth) ; but the
King took it first, and thus both of them perished.

§ 18. Therefore, when King Beorhtric was thus dead, seeing she might
no longer dwell amongst the West Saxons, she sailed over sea, with
countless treasures, and came unto Charles the Great, that most re-
nowned King of the Franks. And to her, even as she stood before the
dais with many a royal gift which she had brought, Charles spake, and
said : ' Choose thee, Eadburgh, which thou wilt, between me and my
son, who standeth here on this dais beside me.' And she, in her folly,
without thought, answered and said unto him : ' If mine be the choice,

1 Still called Offa's Dyke, from the mouth of the Dee to that of the Wye. Offa
was King of Mercia 755-794. Beorhtric died in the year 800.

Asser 89

then choose I thy son, insomuch as he is younger than thee.' Then did
Charles laugh her to scorn, and said : ' Hadst thou chosen me, my son
should have been thine ; but since thou hast chosen my son, neither me
nor him shalt thou have.' Yet gave he her a great Abbey of nuns,
wherein she laid aside her secular habit and put on nun's garb, and for a
few short years there held office as Abbess. But even as in her own land
she had lived a witless life, so lived she in another a life yet more witless.
For with a certain man of her own kin did she commit adultery, and
being taken in the very act, was, by the bidding of King Charles, cast
forth from her monastery. And, in want and misery, led she, even unto
death, a life of shame : so that at last, with but one little page beside
her, as we have heard from many who saw it, dwelt she in all wretched-
ness, begging her daily bread, at Padua.

;:; 19. Ethelwulf, then, lived, after he got back from Rome, two years ;
wherein, among many another good thought for this present life, he dwelt
upon his own going of the way of all flesh \ad universitaUs viaii{\. And
lest his sons after their father's death should strive unseemly amongst
themselves, he bade write a will or rather a commendatory letter, wherein
he wrote this doom, that his kingdom be meetly shared between two sons,
the eldest to wit ; and his private heritage between his sons and his
daughter ; and the moneys he might leave, between his sons and his soul,
and eke his nobles. Of which Act of Prudence we think meet to give a
few words (that many hereafter may follow the same) — such, to wit, as
have most to do with soul's health. For the rest, which pertain unto
human stewardship, it boots not to bring into this small work ; lest our
prolixity disgust our readers — to say nothing of those who hear it
read.

§ 20. For his soul's health, then (whereof he v/as ever jealous even from
his youth up), bade he that throughout all his own heritage, in every ten
manors \??ianentibtcs] one poor man, either of inland folk or outland,
should be stayed with food, drink and clothing by his successors, even
unto the final Day of Judgment : yet so only if that land should still be
dwelt upon, with men and flocks therein, and should not be waste. To
Rome also, for his soul, bade he bear, in each and every year, much
moneys, even 300 mancusses ;^ and that there they should be shared
after this sort, namely, 100 in honour of St. Peter, more especially for
buying of oil, wherewith might be filled all the lamps of the church of
that Apostle on Easter Eve, and also at the Cock-crow [on Christmas
Day], and 100 in honour of St. Paul, to the same ends ; and 100 also
for the Universal Apostolic Pope.

§ 21. But when King Ethelwulf was dead, and buried at Stemruga,^
Ethelbald his son, against the ban of God and Christian worthiness —
nay, and against all Heathen wont also — went up unto his father's
couch, and took to him in wedlock Judith, daughter of Charles, King of
the Franks ; wherethrough all who heard thereof cried ' Fie upon him I'

^ A mancus was thirty pence. The word is of Arabic origin,
" This word is hopelessly corrupt.

90 Alfred in the Chroniclers

And for two and a half lawless \effrc)iis\ years, after the death of his
father, swayed he the helm of the West Saxon kingdom.

^ 22. In A.D. 860, the 1 2th of the age of Alfred, Ethelbald, King of the
West Saxons, died, and was buried in Sherborne [Scireburnan] ; and
Ethelbert his brother, as right was, joined beneath his sway Kent and
Surrey, yea, and Sussex likewise. In his days came there from the sea
a mighty Heathen host, and stormed Winchester [Wintonia], and laid
waste the city. And while, with all their spoil, they made back to their
ships, came there upon them Oswald, Alderman of Hampshire, with his
men, and Ethelwulf the Alderman, with the men of Berkshire, and, in
manly wise, crossed their path. Eftsoon joined they battle, and on all
sides were the Heathen cut down. And, seeing they might abide the
fray no longer, they fled them away like women, and the Christians won
that field. So for five years did Ethelbert sway the realm, in all peace
and love and honour ; and, to the great grief of his folk, went he the way
of all flesh, and in Sherborne, beside his brother, was he worshipfully
laid to rest.

§ 23. In the year of our Lord's Incarnation 864, the Heathen wintered
in the island of Thanet, and plighted sure troth unto the men of Kent,
whereby the men of Kent, for the keeping of that troth, promised to give
them money. Yet meanwhile, in fox-like sort, did the Heathen steal out
from their camp by night, and brake the troth, and held in scorn that
promised fee (for they knew well they would get more by thieving and
spoil than by the peace). And the whole of East Kent did they lay
waste.

^ 24. In the year of the Incarnation 866, the i8th of King Alfred's age,
Ethelred, brother of King Ethelbert, undertook, for five years, the sway
of the West Saxon realm. And that same year came there from Denmark
\Dajiubi6\ to Britain a mighty Heathen fleet, and wintered in the kingdom
of the Eastern Saxons, which in the Saxon tongue is called Eastengle.
And there was that host, for the most part, horsed.

§ 25. But, to speak in sea fashion (lest all too long our ship yield her
to wind and tide, and all too far tack about in the offing, ever wearing
around amid such wars and slaughters and tale of years), I hold that we
should go back to that which most stirred me to this work. That is to
say, I think that here should be shortly brought in the little that has
come to my knowledge of the childhood and boyhood of my worshipful
lord and master Alfred, King of the Anglo-Saxons.

§ 26. Beloved was he, by both father and mother alike, with a great
love, beyond all his brethren ; — yea, and the darling of all. And in the
kingly court {curto\ was he ever brought up. As he grew on, both in
childhood and boyhood, so showed he ever fairer than his brethren, and,
in looks, and words, and ways, the lovesomest. From his very cradle,
above all, and amid all the distractions of this present life, his own high-
souled temper, and his high birth also, bred in him a longing after
Wisdom. But, alas, through the unworthy carelessness of his parents
and up-bringers, he abode, even unto his twelfth year or more, unable so

Asser 91

much as to say his letters. Yet learnt he by heart many a Saxon lay,
for, day and night, would he hear them repeated by others, and no dull
listener was he. A keen huntsman also, ever at work in woodcraft, and
to good purpose. For peerless was he in the hunting-field, ever the first
and ever the luckiest ; in this, as in all else, supremely gifted by God.
And this we have ourselves ofttimes seen.

s^ 27. It chanced then that one day his mother^ was showing to him
and his brothers a book of Saxon songcraft which she had in her hand.
'Whichever of you,' said she, 'can soonest learn this volume, to him will
I give it.' At this word, he, instinct with divine inspiration, and allured
by the beauty of the opening letter of that book, answered his mother,
forestalling his brethren, his elders in years but not in grace, and said :
'Wilt thou indeed give one of us this book — and to him who can soonest
understand and repeat it before thee ?' Then did she smile for very joy,
and ' Yea,' she said, ' that I will.' Then at once took he the book from
her hand, went off to his master, and read it. And when it was read,
he took it back to his mother and said it all by heart.

§ 28. After this he learnt the Daily Course, that is, the Services of the
Hours, and then certain psalms, and many prayers, which he collected
into one book and ever bare about with him in his bosom (as I have seen
with my own eyes) day and night, for the sake of prayer, amid all the
changes and chances [curricula] of this mortal life, and never parted
therefrom.

^ 29. But, alas, what he most longed for, a liberal education to wit, he
attained not according unto his will, for why, as he used to say, there
were then no good teachers [/ectores] in the whole realm of Wessex.
And oft would he affirm, with many a complaint, and many a sigh from
his inmost heart, that amid all the hindrances of his mortal life this was
the greatest, that at the period when he had both years and leisure and
capacity for learning, he had no masters. But when he was more ad-
vanced in age, he was a prey, day and night, to pangs unceasing, past
the skill of all physicians within the four seas, and to all the cares, out-
ward and inward, of kinghood, and to the inroads, by sea and land, of
the Heathen ; so that his masters and teachers, such as they were, were
so distracted, that read [i.e., study] he could not. But yet, amid the
hindrances of this life, from infancy even unto the present day, he hath
ever continued in this heartfelt longing, yea, even until now he ceaseth
not to yearn for it, and will, as I believe, unto the very last day of his
life.

§ 30. In the year of the Incarnation 867, the 19th of the age of King
Alfred aforesaid, the abovenamed host of the Heathen shifted from East
Anglia to the city of York, which lieth on the northern bank of the
river Humber. At that time, by the stirring of the devil, had there

^ Alfred's mother must have died before 855, when he was six years old, as in
that year his father married again (§ 12). If it is of her that this story is told (and
from internal evidence it applies more reasonably to her than to his young step-
mother Judith), Asser's assertion that he could not read till twelve must be loosely
interpreted. In that year, 861, his third brother, Ethelbert, was already King.

92 Alfred in the Chroniclers

arisen strife among the Northumbrians ; as to a folk which hath come
into God's displeasure is ever wont to chance. For the Northumbrians
of late, as we have said, had driven from the realm their lawful King,
Osbert by name ; and a certain usurper, by name Ella, not of the seed
royal, had they set up over the kingdom. But when the heathen came
upon them, this strife, by the counsel of God and the help of the Lords
of the land, was somewhat allayed, for the common weal. And Osbert
and Ella joined forces, and gathered an army, and drew nigh to the town
of York.

§ 31. And at their coming the Heathen took at once to flight, and
were fain to defend themselves within the city walls. And when the
Christians saw their flight, they started in chase, even to within the
ramparts, and would break down the wall ; and they did it, too. For
hitherto, up to that time, the walls of that city were weak and decayed.
But when the Christians, according to their purpose, had broken down
the wall, and great part of them had made their way, along with the
Heathen, into the city, the Heathen, for very need, charged them with
fury, cut them down, put them to flight, crushed them utterly, within the
town and without. And there for the most part were all the North-
umbrians taken as in a trap. Both the Kings were slain, and many of
the Lords ; and, in a word, they were annihilated [deleti]. And the rest
who escaped plighted peace with the Heathen. In the same year did
Ealhstan, Bishop of the church of Sherborne, go the way of all flesh,
after ruling his see for 50 years in all honour ; and at Sherborne was he
buried in peace.

v^ 32. In the year of our Lord's Incarnation 868, the 20th of the
age of Alfred, the aforesaid worshipful King Alfred, then holding but
secondary rank, wooed \expetivit\ and wed a wife from Mercia, high
of birth, the daughter of Ethelred, Alderman of the Gainas,^ whom
men called Muckle.^ And her mother's name was Eadburgh, of the
blood-royal of Mercia; whom I myself ofttimes saw with my own
eyes for not a few years before her decease, a venerable lady, in
sooth, who, after the loss of her husband, abode for many years a
widow, in all chastity, even unto death.

§ 33. In the same year the aforesaid Heathen host left the North-
umbrians and wended them to Scnotengaham [Nottingham], which in
British is, being interpreted, Tigguocobauc, but in Latin Speluncarum
Domus [cave-stead] ; and there that year they wintered. Then at their
coming did Burghred, King of the Mercians, and all the Lords of that
folk, at once send messengers to Ethelred, King of the West Saxons, and
Alfred his brother, begging and praying for help, wherethrough they
might fight the aforesaid host. And their quest was full soon sped. For
the brethren [Ethelred and Alfred] granted thereto ; and, while the word
was yet in their mouths, gathered from all their land a numberless host,
and gat them into Mercia, and were at Nottingham, seeking war with

1 The sept of the Middle English dwelling round Gainsborough.
- I.e., the Great.

Asser 93

one accord. Yet did the Heathen, in their stronghold on the citadel,
refuse battle ; neither could the Christians break through the wall
thereof. Thus peace was made between the Mercians and the Heathen,
and those two brethren with their troops turned them home again.

^34. In the next year (869) was there a mighty famine, and death
among men, and plague among beasts. And the aforesaid Heathen host
rode back to the Northumbrians and came to the city of York, and there
abode one whole year. And in the next year (870) they made their way
through Mercia to East Anglia, and in a place called Theodford [Thet-
ford] they wintered. In this same year Edmund, King of the East
Angles, fought against that same host a desperate fight. But, alas, the
Heathen won all too gloriously ; and there was he slain, and the most of
his men with him ; and they held the death-stead, and brought beneath
their sway all that land.

And in the same year did Archbishop Ceolnoth, the Bishop of Doro-
bernia [Canterbury], go the way of all flesh, and in that city was he
buried in peace.

§ 35. But in the year of our Lord's Incarnation 871, and the 22nd
of the age of King Alfred, did that Heathen host, hateful to tell, leave
the East Angles, and hied them to the realm of the West Saxons, and
came unto a town royal, called Rasdig [Reading], which lieth on the
bank of Thames-stream River \Tamesis fliimensis fluminis\ to the south,
in that part which is called Bearrocscire. And on the third day of their
coming thither, then rode forth their chiefs, and many with them, to
harry the land ; and the rest were after making them a dyke between
the two rivers, Thames and Cynetan [Kennet], on the right hand^ of that
town royal.

§ 36. Then did Ethelwulf, Alderman of the land of Berkshire, with his
comrades, cross their path at the place called Englefield ; and there
fought both sides full valiantly, and long did either stand their ground.
Of the two Heathen captains the one was slain, and the most part of that
host laid low. Then fled away the rest, and the Christians gat them the
victory, and held the death-stead. Yet four days more, after this hap,
and there came Ethelred, King of the West Saxons, and Alfred his
brother, and joined forces, and gathered them a host, and drew nigh unto
Reading, cutting down and overthrowing whomsoever of the Heathen
they found without the stronghold, and made their way even unto the
gates. No less keen in fight were the Heathen. Out they burst from
every gate like wolves ; and then waxed long the fight, and ever more
deadly. But, alas, alas, in the end did the Christians turn their backs,
and the Heathen gat them the victory and held the death-stead. And
there, amongst the rest, fell the above-named Alderman, Ethelwulf.

§ 37. Stirred by this woe and shame, the Christians, after yet another
four days, went forth to battle against the aforesaid host, at a place called
yEscesdun [Ashdown] (which in Latin is by interpretation Ash Mount),

^ I.e.^ to the south. Until the sixteenth century the East, not the North, was
the top of a map.

94 Alfred in the Chroniclers

with their whole strength, and with a good will. But the Heathen formed
in two divisions, of like size, made ready their shield-wall \tesiud6\. For
they had, as at that time, two Kings and many Chieftains ; and the one
half of their army gave they unto the two Kings, and the rest unto all
the Chieftains together. And when the Christians saw this, they too, in
like manner, parted their host in twain, and as keenly formed their
shield-wall.

^ 38. But Alfred, with his men, as we have heard from truthful eye-
witnesses, came the quicker to the field and more readily. Nor wonder
was it ; for his brother King Ethelred was still in his tent, fixed in prayer,
hearing Mass. For ever would he say that never while he lived would
he leave his Mass before the Priest had ended it, nor, for any man on
earth, turn his back on Divine Service. And even so he did. And much
availed with the Lord the faith of that Christian King, as in what foUoweth
will appear most plainly.

§ 39. The Christians, then, had thought best that Ethelred the King,
with his force, should take battle against the two Kings of the Heathen ;
while Alfred his brother, with his band, should be told, as was meet, to
chance the fight \belli sutnere sortevi] against all the Heathen Chieftains.
And when thus on either side they were in good order, and the King
tarried long in prayer, Alfred, then second in command, could stand the
advance of the foe no longer. Needs must he either draw him back
from the battle, or charge the enemy ere yet his brother came into the
fray. And, at the last, in manly wise, charged he, with the rush of a wild
boar, leading his Christian forces against the foemen's hosts, even as
had been fore-planned (save only that the King was not yet come), for
he trusted in God's counsel and leant upon His aid. So drew he together
his shield-wall in good order, and advanced his banner straight against
the foe.

§ 40. But here those who know not the place must be told that it was
no fair field of battle, for the Heathen had seized the higher ground, and
the Christian battle-line was charging uphill. There was also in that
same place a lone thorn-tree and a low, which we ourselves have
beheld. Around this, then, came the lines together, with a mighty shout-
ing, in warrior wise, the one side bent upon all mischief \j)erperam
age7ites\ the other to fight for life and land and dear ones. This way
and that swayed the battle for a while, valiant was it and all too deadly,
till so God ordered it that the Heathen could stand against the Christian
charge no longer. Most part of their force were slain, and with all shame
they betook them to flight.

§ 41. And in that place fell there by the sword one of the two Heathen
Kings, and of their Chieftains five, and many a thousand of their men
beside them. Yea, and, moreover, thousands more, scattered over the
whole breadth of the field of Ashdown, were cut to pieces far and wide.
And there then fell there BcCgsceg their King, and Sidroc the Elder, their
Chieftain, and Sidroc the Younger, their Chieftain, and Osbern the
Chieftain, and Frena the Chieftain, and Harold the Chieftain. And the

Asser 95

whole Heathen host fled them away all that day and all that night, even
unto the next day ; till they that escaped got back into their stronghold.
And even until nightfall held the Christians the chase, and smote them
down on every side.

v; 42. And after this, again fourteen days, Ethelred the King and Alfred
his brother, with their united force, hied them to Basing to fight against
the Heathen. There joined they battle, and stood to it long. But the
Heathen gained the day and held the field. And when this fray was lost
and won, came there from over sea yet another Heathen host and joined
the horde. And in the same year, after Easter, Ethelred, the aforesaid
King, after ruling his realm well and worshipfully amid many a trouble,
went the way of all flesh, and is buried in the monastery at Wimborne,
where he awaiteth the Comingof the Lord and the First Resurrection with
the just.

v^ 43. In the same year did our Alfred (who until then, while his
brothers lived, had been in the second place) take upon him, so soon as
ever his brother was dead, the sway of the whole kingdom, by the grant of
God, and with all goodwill of the land-folk, one and all. For even while
this brother was yet alive might he eftsoon have won it, would he have
taken it, and that with the assent of all men : seeing that both in wisdom
and eke in all good ways was he better than all his brethren put together
— yea, and, in especial, a surpassing warrior, and, in war, had ever almost
the best of it. Then began he to reign, as it were unwillingly. For it
seemed unto him that never might he, all alone, with but God for aid,
endure so grievous a stress and strain of heathendom ; whenas, even along
with his brothers, while they lived, full hardly and with great loss might
he abide it.

§ 44. So reigned he one full month, and thereafter, on the hill called
Wilton, on the southern bank of the river Guilou [Willy] (from which
river the whole of that shire is named), fought he, with but few behind
him, against the whole Heathen host, a fight all too unequal. Up and
down most part of the day raged the fight full stoutly. Then were the
eyes of the Heathen opened, and they saw to the full their peril. And
therewith bore they up no longer against their unremitting foe, but turned
their backs and fled away. But, alas, through the rashness of the
pursuit they tricked us. On they came again to battle, and won the
victory, and were masters of the death-stead.

§ 45. Nor let this seem strange to any that in this fight the tale of
Christians was but small. For the Saxons, as a people ^populariter\
were all but worn out by eight battles in one and the self-same year
against the Heathen ; wherein one Heathen King and nine of their
Chieftains, and of their troops untold numbers, were cut to pieces ; to say
nothing of the numberless raids, daily and nightly, which our oft-named
Alfred and many a Captain of his kin, each with his own men, and many
even of the King's Thanes,^ would ever keenly and tirelessly make against
the Heathen. How many thousands of Heathen were slain in these never-

^ These were the squires, or landed gentry. See p. 48.

96 Alfred in the Chroniclers

ending raids, over and above those cut down in the eight battles, God
alone knoweth.

Also in that same year did the Saxons make peace with the Heathen on
this one condition, that they should depart from them. And this they
fulfilled.

ci 46. In the year of the Lord's Incarnation 872, the 23rd of Alfred's
age, the aforesaid Heathen host wended them to London, and
the Mercians made peace with them. And in the next year they left
London, and went right into the land of the Northumbrians, and there
wintered in a place called Lindesige ;^ and the Mercians once more made
peace with them. And the next year again they left Lindesige, and made
their way into Mercia, and there at a place called Repton [Hreopdune]
did they winter. Burghred, moreover, the King of the Mercians, drave
they to leave his kingdom and go over seas into exile, and hie him to
Rome, in the 22nd year of his reign. And full loth was he so to do ;
and after he got to Rome he lived not there long, but died, and in the
School of the Saxons,^ in the Church of St. Mary, was he buried worship-
fully, and awaiteth the Coming of the Lord and the First Resurrection
with the just. And after his driving out, the Heathen got under their
sway the whole Mercian kingdom ; yet did they grant it in trust to a
certain foolish King's Thane (Ceolwulf by name), on these miserable
terms, that whensoever they might wish to have it again, he should, at
a day's notice, give them quiet and peaceable possession thereof. And in
this troth he gave them sureties, and sware, moreover, that never would
he cross their will, but be obedient unto them in all things.

§ 47. In the year of the Incarnation 875, the 25th of King Alfred's
age, the host so often above spoken of left Repton and parted
ihem into two bands. The one, with Healfdene, went off into the land
of the Northumbrians, and there wintered near the river called Tyne.
And they brought under their sway all Northumbria ; yea, and harried
the Picts and the Strathclyde folk. And the other, with Guthrum and
Oscytel and Osmund, three Heathen Kings, came unto the place which
is called Cambridge [Grantebrycge] ; and there they wintered. And in
this same year King Alfred, in a ship fight on the sea, engaged six
Heathen ships. And one of them he took, and the rest slipped away and
fled.

§ 48. In the year of the Incarnation 876, the 26th of King Alfred's
age, the oft-named Heathen host, setting out from Cambridge by night,
made their way into a stronghold called Wareham, which is an Abbey of
nuns, and lieth between two rivers, the Frome and the Trent, in the land
called in British Durngueis, but in Saxon Thornsasta [Dorset]. It is the
safest spot on earth, save only towards the west, where it adjoins the
land. And with this host did King Alfred plight firm troth, on these
ierms, that they should leave his land. And the host, without a word of
gainsaying, gave up to him chosen sureties, named by himself alone.
Yea, and they sware an oath on all the relics wherein the King placed

1 Perhaps Lindisfarne. ^ See p. 79.

Asser 97

(after God) his chiefest trust — yea, and on their ring, whereon heretofore
never would they swear to any folk — that they would get them out of his
realm with all speed. Yet, after their wont, dealt they treacherously, and
recked nought of sureties, or oath, or promise, or honour ; but one night
brake their troth and slew all the horsemen he [Alfred] had, and
suddenly hied them thence to Devonshire [Damnonia], to a place which
is called in Saxon Eaxanceastre [Exeter], but in British Cairwisc, and in
Latin [Exonia] ; a city on the east bank of the river Exe [Wise], lying
near the South Sea which runs betwixt Gaul and Britain. And there they
wintered.

§ 49. In the same year also Halfdene, King of those parts, shared out
the whole land of the Northumbrians between himself and his men ; and
tilled it, he and his host. [In the same year Rollo and his men made
their way into Normandy.]^

§ 50. In the year 877, the Heathen, as Autumn-tide drew on, in part
sat them down at Exeter, and in part went back to raid in Mercia. Day
by day the number of the miscreants \^perversi\ grew ever larger, so that
were thirty thousand slain in one day others would take their place twice-
told. Then bade King Alfred make barks [cyjnbas] throughout the
realm, and keels [galeas], that is long ships, that he might meet the foes
in sea-fight, as they came in. Therein embarked he adventurers \^piratos]
and let them keep the water-way \vias maris]. But himself hied he with
all speed to Exeter, where the Heathen were wintering, and shut them up
in that city, and besieged them. On his seamen also laid he strait
command, that they should suffer no supplies to reach the foe by way of
the Narrow Seas \iii parte fret{\.

§ 51. Then met there his seamen 120 ships, laden with armed warriors,
coming to the help of their kinsfolk \co?icivium\ And when the King's
officers found ships thus filled with Heathen warmen, then leapt they to
arms, and boarded the savages like men. But the Heathen, who now for
nearly a month had been wave-tossed and ship-worn, vainly returned the
onset. So that in a moment their line of battle was shattered \lacp.rata\
and sunken in the place called Swanwich ; and they perished one and all.

[Here follows a short and confused interpolation.]

§ 52. In the year of the Incarnation 878, the 27th [really the
30th] of the age of Alfred, the oft-mentioned host left Exeter, and
came unto Chippenham, a town-royal in the left [North] of Wiltshire
[VViltunscyre], on the east bank of the river which in British is called
Avon, and there they wintered. And many of the country-folk drave
they, by force of arms, and through need and fear, to sail beyond seas^ and,
for the most part, brought they under their sway all that dwelt in that
land.

§ 53. At that same time Alfred, with a few of his lords, and some
warriors also, dwelt in the woods and fens \gronnosd\ of Somerset— a life

^ This is an interpolation from the Chronicle of St. Neot's, whence some editors
also insert here the story of Rollo's vision (see John of Wallingford, § 3).

7

98 Alfred in the Chroniclers

of sore trouble and unrest. For he had nought whereon to live save only
what he might carry off, either by force or stealth, from the Heathen ; or
even from the Christians who had bowed to their sway.

§ 54. [And, as is written in the Life of Holy Father Neot, once, in the
house of one of his cowherds, it chanced that one day a country-wife (the
wife, indeed, of that same cowherd), was making ready to bake cakes.
And the King sat thus by the hearth, and would make ready his bow and
arrows and other war-gear. But when that unhappy woman saw that the
cakes she had put before the fire were burning, she hasted and ran and
moved them, scolding the while at our all-conquering King, and saying,^
' Fie, fellow !

' And why so slack to move the cakes ? And can^st not see thevi burn ?
Thotirt all too glad to eat tJieni up, when they are done to a turn.^

Little thought that unlucky woman that this was King Alfred, who waged
so many wars against the Heathen, and won over them so many
victories.

§ 55. Yet not only to that glorious King did the Lord deign to grant
victory over his foes, and weal out of woe. Often and often \inultotiens\
did that same Lord, of His loving-kindness, suffer him to be vexed by his
foes, to be struck down by mishaps, to be lowered in the eyes of his folk.
And this, that he might know that there is One Lord of all, to Whom
every knee shall bow, in Whose hand is the heart of Kings, Who putteth
down the mighty from their seat and exalteth the humble and meek. Who
willeth that His faithful, high-placed in all wealth, should be touched
sometimes with the scourge of adversity ; — that, when brought low, they
despair not of God's mercy, and, when lifted up, they pride them not on
their earthly honours, but know to Whom they owe all things whatsoever
they have.

§ 56. And this trouble, in such wise brought upon our King, came upon
him, as we believe, not undeservedly. For in the early days of his
kingship, while he was yet young, he was a slave \detenius\ to youthful
temper. And his men and his subjects came unto him, and sought to
him, each for his own need ; and they who were wronged by the
authorities besought his help and protection. Yet would he not list to
them, nor pain him at all to help them, but altogether made nought of
them.

§ 57- Whereat that most blessed man Neot, while yet on earth, being
his near kin, was grieved to the very heart, and, being full of the spirit
of prophecy, foretold that, for this thing, there would come upon him
very grievous trouble. But he recked little of the kind reproof of the
man of God, and took not to heart that most true prophecy. Seeing then

^ ' Reus homo !

Urere quos cernis panes gyrare moraris,

Cum nimium gaudes hos manducare calentes ?'
These lines may be the relic of some early poetical account of the adventure.

Asser 99

that whatsoever a man sinneth must needs be someway punished, either
here or hereafter, our true and loving Judge willed that the King's folly
should not go unpunished in this world, that He might spare him in the
Day of Judgment. Therefore did this same Alfred of ours oft-times fall
into such wretchedness, that none of his subjects knew where he was nor
what had become of him.p

i^ 58. In the same year [Hubba] the brother of Ingwar and Halfdene,
with 23 ships, sailed forth from the land of Demetia [South Wales], where
they had wintered, after much slaughter of Christians, unto Damnonia
[Devon]. And there, while bent on mischief, was he slain, with 1,200 more,
by the King's Thanes, before the stronghold of Cynuit — an ill death. For
in that same stronghold had many King's Thanes, with their men, shut
themselves for refuge. But though the Heathen saw that the stronghold
was unprepared and wholly unfortified, save that it had mere ramps raised
after our wont, yet tried they not to storm it. For the place is safe, by
its situation, quite safe, on every side except the East, as I have seen
myself. They sat down, then, before it, thinking that the folk within
must speedily surrender, under stress of hunger, and thirst, and siege ;
for that stronghold hath no water nigh unto it.

^ 59. It fell out, however, otherwise than they thought for. For the
Christians, rather than endure such utter lack and need — stirred up,
moreover, by God — deemed it better by far either to conquer or to die.
At dawn of day brake they out all suddenly with the dash of a wild boar
\aprino tempore\ upon the foemen, and overthrew them utterly. Down
went the King ; down went his men, almost all ; and but few they were
who got off and fled them away to their ships.

v^ 60. [And there gat they no small spoil^ wherein they took moreover
that banner which men call the Raven. For they say that the three
sisters of Ingwar and Hubba, the daughters, sooth to say, of Lodbrock,
wove that banner, and made it all wholly ready between morn and night
in one single day. They say too that in every fight, wherein that flag
went before them, if they were to win, the raven in the midst thereof
would seem to flutter as it were alive. But were their doom to be worsted,
then would it droop, still and lifeless. And oft was this well proven.]^

^ 61. In the same year, after Easter, did King Alfred and a few of his
comrades make them a stronghold at a spot called Athelney. And from
that stronghold ever waged he, with his Thanes and vassals of Somerset,
tireless war against the Heathen yoke. Next, in the seventh week after
Easter, rode he to Egbert's Stone, which is to the East of the forest
called Selwood (in Latin, Silva Mag?ta^ in British, Coitmawr). And
there met him all the whole folk of Somersetshire and Wiltshire and all
the folk of Hampshire, such as had not, through fear of the Heathen,
sailed beyond seas. And when they saw the King, they were filled with
joy untold, and they hailed him as one alive again from the dead ;

^ These passages are inserted from the Chronicle of St. Neot's.

7—2

lOO Alfred in the Chroniclers

— as, after such mighty troubles, was full meet. And there camped
they one night.

§ 62. And at peep of dawn did the King rouse the camp, and came to
a place called Acglea [Leigh, near Westbury], and there one night he
encamped. And next day, very early in the morning, he advanced his
banners, and came to a place called Ethandun [Edington, in Wiltshire].^
And there against the whole Heathen host formed he firm his shield-wall,
and fought a deadly fight. Stoutly and long kept they at it ; and, by God's
help, in the end he got the victory, and laid low the Heathen with a very
great slaughter, and followed hard upon their flight, with blow on blow,
even unto their stronghold. And everything without the stronghold, men
to wit, and horses, and herds, caught he and took, and the men he slew
at once ; and before the gates of the Heathen stronghold did he and all
his host take camp, like men.

§ 63. And when he had there tarried 14 days, the Heathen, an-hungred,
and a-cold, and a-dread, and, at last, hopeless, became sore afraid, and
begged for peace, on this troth, that the King should name and take
from them such sureties as he would, giving them none in return. Never
before had they made peace with anyone after this sort.

§ 64. And, when he had heard their message, the King, stirred thereto
by his own kind heart, named and took from them such sureties as he
would ; and, when he had them, the Heathen sware as well that they
would depart from his realm with all the speed they might. Yea, and
Guthrum, their King, pledged him to become a Christian, and to take
upon him Baptism at the hand of King Alfred. And all this he and his
fulfilled, even as they had promised.

§ 65. For after seven weeks came Guthrum, King of the Heathen,
with the thirty choicest men of all his host, to King Alfred, at a place,
near Athelney, called Aire. And there did King Alfred receive him for
his own son by adoption, and raised him up from out the baptismal font.
And his chrisom-loosing^ was on the eighth day, in the town-royal called
Wedmore. And, when he was baptized, then stayed he with the King
twelve nights. And the King gave to him and all his men many ex-
cellent gifts, in great plenty, for their support and edification withaP
\^piurima at que optitna cedificia\ .

§ 66. In the year of our Lord's Incarnation 879 (the 28th [31st] of
King Alfred's age), the aforesaid Heathen host gat them up, as they had
promised, from Chippenham, and hied them to Cirencester, which is
called in British Caerceri, in the southern part of the Hwiccas. And there
abode they one year. In the same year came there a mighty host of
Heathen sailing from over-sea \ultra7)iarinis\ and into Thames-stream,
and joined them to the above host. Yet wintered they in the place
called Fulham [Fullonham] upon the Thames. In the same year was

1 See Note A, p. 119. ^ See p. 36.

^ This seems the most probable meaning. In classical Latin ccdifico and its
derivatives never have a symbolical sense, which is first found in the Vulgate.

Asser loi

there an eclipse of the sun, between the ninth hour and Vespers
[6 p.m.], but nearer the ninth hour.^

^67. In the year of our Lord's Incarnation 880 (the 29th [32nd] of King
Alfred's age), the oft-mentioned Heathen host left Cirencester, and went
off into East Anglia, and shared up that land among them, and began to
settle down there. In the same year the Heathen host which had
wintered at Fulham left the island of Britain and once more crossed the
sea, and got to Eastern France and abode for one year at a place called
Ghent [Gaent]. And the next year [881] went they up further into
France ; and the Franks fought against them ; and, when the battle was
done, the Heathen found them horses, and became horsemen. And in
the next year [882] they towed their ships up the river Meuse [Mese],
and drew much further up into France, and there wintered one year.

§ 68. In the same year Alfred, King of the Anglo-Saxons, met in sea-
fight with the Heathen ships upon the sea. And of them he took two
ships, and slew every man therein. And the captains of yet two more
ships, with all their mates, laid down their arms — so worn out were they
with war and wounding — and bowed the knee, and with humble prayers
gave themselves up to the King.

And in the next year [883] the aforesaid host towed their ships, against
the stream, up the river Scheldt [Scald] to an Abbey of nuns called
Conde [Cundoht], and there abode one year.

§ 69. In the year of our Lord's Incarnation 884, the 34th [36th] of
King Alfred, the aforesaid host parted into two bands. The one band
went on into Eastern France, and the other came into Britain and drew
unto Kent, and laid siege to the city, called, in Saxon, Rochester [Hro-
fesceastre], lying on the eastern bank of the River Med way. There
before the gate did the Heathen suddenly throw up a strong work. Yet
could they not take the city, for the citizens held out like men, until King
Alfred came up with a great army to their aid. Then did the Heathen
leave their stronghold, and all the horses which they had brought over
from France, yea, and let go most of their captives in the stronghold :
for the King came upon them as in a moment, and they fled, without
stay, to their ships. And both captives and horses were seized and
shared upon the spot, by the Saxons. But the Heathen, under stress of
utter need, that same summer went off into France once more.

§ 70. In the same year [884] Alfred manned well his fleet with war-men
and sent them across from Kent, with orders to harry East Anglia. And
when they came to the mouth of the River Stour, all at once there met
them 13 Heathen ships, cleared for action. Then began a sea-fight, and
on either side was it waged full keenly. And the Heathen were slain,
one and all ; and all their ships were taken and all the spoil therein.
And thereafter when the King's fleet was in slumber after its victory, the
Heathen who dwelt in East Anglia, gat them ships together on every

^ This eclipse took place March 14, 880. (N.B. — The old English year began
March 25.)

102 Alfred in the Chroniclers

hand, and bore down upon this same fleet in the mouth of this same
river. And they joined battle ; and the Heathen had the victory.

§ 71. In the same year [884], Carloman, King of the East Frank?,
while boar-hunting, met with a sad death, being horribly gashed by the
tusk of a boar, in a specially furious charge \singiilari congressione\
His brother Louis [Hlothwicus] died the year before, and he too vas
King of the Franks. For both were sons of Louis [the Second] , King of
the Franks, who died in the year of the abovementioned eclipse [879-80].
And this Louis was son of Charles [the Bald], King of the Franks,
whose daughter Judith, Ethelwulf, King of the West Saxons, took, with
her father's goodwill, to be his queen.

>i 72. In the same year also, a mighty host of Heathens came out of
Germany even unto the land of the Old Saxons, which in Saxon is called
Ealdseaxum.i Against them did the Saxons and the Frisians join hands,
and fought them twice in one year, like men. And God had pity on the
Christians, and, by His aid, in both these fights, theirs was the victory.

§ 73. And in the same year [884] Charles [the Fat], King of the
Germans \Almaiinoriim\ took unto him, by free assent of all men, the
realm of the West Franks, yea, and all the realms between the Tyrrhenian
sea [the Mediterranean] and the inlet \siims\ which lieth between the
Old Saxons and the Gauls, save only the realm of Armorica [Brittany].
And this Charles was the son of King Louis [the German], and this
Louis was the brother of Charles [the Bald], King of the Franks, the
father, to wit, of Judith aforesaid. And these two brethren were sons of
Louis [the Pious], and Louis was the son of Charles the Great, the Old,
the Wise, and he was the son of Pepin.

§ 74. In the same year went Pope Marinus, of blessed memory, the
way of all flesh. He it was who, for the love and at the prayer of Alfred,
freed the School of the Saxons ^ tarrying in Rome from all tribute an«i
custom \talento telonio\ ; yea, and moreover sent him therewith many a
gift. And amongst these he gave him no small bit of the most holy and
worshipful Cross, whereon our Lord Jesus Christ hung for the salvation
of all men. In the same year also the Heathen host which dwelt in
East Anglia shamefully brake the peace which they had made with King
Alfred.

§ 75. Now then, to return to the point wherefrom I have digressed
(lest by so long sea-faring I be forced to forgo altogether the haven
where I would be), I will strive \^procurabo\ by the grace of God, shortly
and in few words (lest by prolixity in telling my news in full I disgust
and offend), to get in a very little (such as has come to my knowledge),
about the life, and the ways, and the right conversation of Alfred, my
lord. King of the Anglo-Saxons, and (to no small extent) his deeds also,
after he wedded the worshipful bride, of noble Mercian kin, already
spoken of.

§ 76. In Mercia, then, even while the marriage rite was being done,

^ See Note B, p. 119. ^ See p. 79.

Asser 1 03

solemnly and with all honour, amid countless folk of either sex, after long
feasting both by day and night — even then was he seized, all at once,
before all the throng, with a sudden pain, beyond all telling, and beyond
all leech-craft. For it was a thing past the skill of all who were on the
spot, and eke of all who have seen it from that day even to this. And
this, alas, is the worst of all, that for such a length of time — from his
20th year to his 40th and more — it should have gone on without a break,
all these years. Whence came such woe and pain ? Many there were
who fancied that this thing was brought about by the evil influence of
the adoring gaze \_/avore et fascinatione\ of the throng round about him ;
others that it was by the malice of the devil, who ever grudgeth at the
good ; others, by some unwonted kind of fever. Others hold it a ficus -}
for this grievous kind of disease he had from infancy.

§ ']']. But therefrom God had already granted him relief, on a certain
day, when he had come into Cornwall to hunt, and turned him aside to
pray in a church there, wherein St. Gueryr resteth,^ and where now
St. Neot also is at peace S^pausat\. For ever would he haunt holy places
even from childhood, for prayer and almsdoing. Long lay he prostrate
in silent supplication, beseeching the Lord's pity, — that Almighty God,
of His infinite mercy, would change the agonies of the distressing in-
firmity upon him for some other lighter affliction ; yet on this condition,
that this affliction should not be outwardly apparent in his person, lest
he should be scorned and useless. For he dreaded leprosy, or blindness,
or any such trouble, which, so soon as it cometh, maketh men scorned
and useless. But, when his prayer was done, he took up his journey
again ; and, but a little after, felt that, even as he had besought in his
prayer, he was healed of that plague, by God's grace, so that it was
wholly done away.

^ 78. Yet that plague also had he won from God, by devout prayer
and frequent supplication, in the first flower of his youth ; pious and
prayerful that he was. For (to speak of his good-will and devotion
toward God, in few words, though out of due course), when he was in
the first flower of his youth, ere yet he had a wife of his own, he was fain
to stablish his heart in God's commandments, yet saw he that he could
not abstain from fleshly lusts. Then, fearing to incur God's displeasure
\ofe?isam\ if he were to do aught against His Will, often and often
would he rise at cock-crow, and very early in the morning, unbeknown
to all, sought he the churches and the relics of the saints for to pray.
And there long and humbly prayed he that Almighty God, of His mercy,
would turn him wholly to Himself, and stablish and strengthen his mind
in the love of His service by some infirmity, such as he might bear, yet
not such as would make him unfit and useless for his worldly duties.

§ 79. And, seeing that he did this full often, and with whole-hearted

^ spiles or emerods.

2 St. Neot's, near Liskeard. Nothing is known of St. Gueryr, whose name is
said by Camden to mean ' healer.'

I04 Alfred in the Chroniclers

devotion, after some little time God granted him the aforesaid ftcits
trouble, wherewith he was long and sore vexed for many years, insomuch
that he despaired even of life, until, at his prayer, it was wholly taken
away from him. But, alas, when that was taken away, another, yet more
grievous, seized him, as we have said, at his wedding, and, from his
2oth year even unto his 45th, hath vexed him unceasingly, day and night.
And if ever, by God's mercy, that infirmity was done away for a single
day or night, or even for the space of one hour, yet the fear and dread
of that horrible pain never left him, and made him, in his own thought,
all but useless for every duty, either to God or man.

§ So. Thus were there born unto him sons and daughters by his wife
aforesaid, to wit, Ethelfled, the eldest, next Edward, then Elgiva
[Aethelgeofu], afterwards Elfthryth, and finally Ethelward, besides those
who were snatched away by all too early a death in infancy, amongst
whose number was [Edmund].^ Ethelfled, when she came of age to
wed, was united in marriage-bond to Edred, Alderman of the Mercians.
Elgiva,^ in turn, took upon her the service of God, espoused and con-
secrated to God in the vow of virginity, in the Rule of the monastic life.
Ethelward, the youngest of all, was handed over, by the counsel of God,
and the admirable prudence of the King, to the literary discipline of
school, under the diligent care of masters, along with nearly all the high-
born infants of the land, and many, even, not high-born. In this school
the books of either tongue, Latin, to wit, and Saxon, were read full
diligently. They had time, moreover, for writing. So that, ere yet they
had strength for manly \hu7na7iis\ craft, wood-craft, to wit, and such like
exercises, such as become the high-born, they proved studious and well-
skilled in liberal Arts. Edward and Elfthryth were ever brought up in
the royal court, with all diligence both of tutors and governesses. Yea,
they abide even until now, dearly beloved of all, in all lowliness, courtesy,
and gentleness toward all, both inland folk and outland, and in whole-
hearted obedience to their father. Nor are they suffered slothfully and
heedlessly to lack the discipline of a liberal education, amid such other
pursuits as become the highborn in this life. For they have learnt the
psalms, and Saxon books, and Saxon songs above all, and are for ever
reading.

§ 81. Yet, all the while, the King, amid his wars, and the constant
hindrances of his worldly duties, yea, and the attacks of the Heathen,
and his own daily attacks of illness, never slacked nor stayed in his
tendance on the helm of the kingdom, and in his practice of all wood-
craft ; nor yet in his teaching of all his goldsmiths, and his craftsmen,
and his falconers, and his huntsmen ; nor in his construction of buildings,
stately and costly beyond all the elder wont, by new plans of his own ;
nor in his recitation of Saxon books ; nor, most of all, in himself learning
by heart Saxon songs, with all diligence and to the utmost of his power,
and bidding others do the like.

^ This name is supplied from the * Historia Major ' of Rudborne (* Angl. Sacr.,'
i. 207).

Asser 105

§ 82. Nor yet slacked he ever in attendance at Divine Service. Daily,
to wit, heard he Mass, and certain psalms and prayers, and the Day
Hours and the Night Hours.^ And by night too, as we have said, was
he wont to haunt the churches, unbeknown to all his folk, for prayer.

i^ ^;^. Great too was his diligence, and great his bounty, in his alms-
deeds which he did, both toward them of his own land and toward
incomers from all nations. Kind of speech, above all, was he, beyond
compare, and free of wit toward all men. And with all his mind did he
throw himself into the seeking out of things unknown.

§ 84. And of their own free will did many Franks, Frisians, Gauls,
Heathens [Danes], Britons, Scots, and Armoricans, bow them to his
sway, high-born alike and low-born ; and all of them, in his own worthy
wise, did he rule, and love, and honour, even as his own folk, and enriched
them with place {potestate] and profit.

>j 85. Unto Divine Scripture was he ever ready and careful to hearken,
and that his own home-born folk should read it him ; yet would he join
in prayer with outlanders no less, if need arose thereof.

§ 86. His Bishops, moreover, and churchmen of every order, and his
Thanes, and his Lords, and his Counsellors \imtiisteriales\ also, and all
his Household [fajniliares] loved he with wondrous love. And their sons,
too, who were brought up in the Royal Household, loved he even as his
own, and slacked not by day nor yet by night, in himself setting them
in every good way, and imbuing them with culture and the like.

§ 87. Yet (as if in all this he found no comfort) would he, day and
night, sadly bewail him, to the Lord, and to all near and dear unto him,
with many a sigh and moan (as though he felt no grief either of body or
soul save this only), that Almighty God had made him to lack Divine
Wisdom and Culture. And herein was he even as the pious Solomon,
richest and wisest of all Hebrew kings, who made light of earthly wealth
and glory, and asked wisdom from God first. And thus, moreover,
found he both — wisdom, to wit, and earthly glory ; even as it is written,
* Seek ye first the Kingdoui of God and his righteousness^ and all these
things shall be added 2<nto you?

§ 88. But God, Who ever beholdeth the inmost heart, by Whose holy
inspiration we think those things that be good, by Whose bountiful
guiding are performed the same ; Who doth put into our minds good
desires, never save for this, that He may bring the same to good effect,
by His abundant mercy ; He stirred up the heart of Alfred, by no out-
ward means, but by His own inward working ; even as it is written: '/
ijill hearken what the Lord God will say within me ' (Psalm Ixxxiv.).

§ 89. Fellow-workers, also, of his good purpose, who might help him
in the wisdom he longed for, the attaining of his heart's desire, would he
get him whensoever he could. And thus, like as the cunning bee riseth
early in the summer morning from the cells of the hive, and cleaveth

^ The private recitation of the Breviary Offices takes at least two hours
daily.

io6 Alfred in the Chrofiiclers

swiftly the pathless air, and settleth on many a divers plant — moss, or
fruit, or flowret — and proveth that which pleaseth her most, and beareth
it back home, with all foresight, so sought he from abroad that which
he had not at home, that is, in his own realm.

v^ 90. And then did God shut not His ears to his cry (for righteous
was it, and from a good will), but gave him comfort, and sent unto him,
for the arising of light in his darkness, one Werfrith, Bishop of the
church of Worcester, a man well taught in the Divine Scripture. And
he, at the King's bidding, was the first to turn the books of the Dialogues
of Pope Gregory, and of Peter his disciple, from Latin into Saxon, giving
sense for sense most clearly and elegantly. Then was there Plegmund,
of Mercian kin, Archbishop of Canterbury, a venerable man and a wise,
and Athelstan, and Werwulf, priests of Mercian kin, and of learning.
These four had Alfred called unto him out of Mercia, and raised unto
great honour and place in Wessex, beside that which Archbishop Pleg-
mund and Bishop Werfrith had in Mercia.

- § 91. And by all their learning and wisdom, the King's longing grew
ever the greater, and slacked not. For day and night, whensoever he
had aught of leisure, were books read before him by such as these ; nor
would he ever suffer himself to be without some one of them. And thus
gained he knowledge of almost every book in the world, although of
himself as yet he understood nothing about books, for he had not yet
begun to ' read ' anything.

§ 92. Yet was not all this enough to sale the King's avarice — a praise-
worthy avarice. Therefore bade he messengers to get him masters over-
sea, in Gaul. And thence he called unto him Grimbald, a priest and a
monk, a worthy man, and choice singer, and every-way skilled in Church
teaching and in Holy Scripture ; and John too, also a priest and a monk,
one of keen wit, skilled in all rules of literature, and a craftsman in many
another art. By their teaching was the King's mind greatly enlarged,
and with high place did he enrich and honour them both.

§ 93. And in those days did the King call me also unto him, and into
Saxony I came, from the uttermost west of Britain. So set I my face
to go unto him, through many a long mile, and came even unto the land
of the Saxons who dwell to the Right [South], which in Saxon is called
Sussex, under the guidance of certain of that kin who were with me. And
there, in a town-royal that is called Dean,^ first did I see him.

§ 94. Full kindly was his greeting ; and, amid all our talk, would he
ever press me to devote myself to his service, and to leave for him, all
that 1 had in the land north and west of Severn. ^ He promised me all
back, and more also (which indeed he fulfilled). Then answered I that
I could take upon me such a pledge as this after no rash and heedless
sort. For it seemed unfair that I should leave that holy spot wherein
§ 95] I was bred, and taught, and tonsured [coro?tattes\ and finally

^ Probably East or West Dean, near Chichester.

2 I.e., South Wales, the Bristol Channel being the Severn Sea.

Asser 107

ordained, 1 for any honour or place on earth, save it were by stress of
need. Whereto he said, ' Well, if this is too much for thee, grant me
at least the half of thy service, so as to be six months of the year with
me, and as much in Britain [Wales],' To this I answered, that I
could not promise even thus much, in careless courtesy [suaviter\
without advice of my friends. However, when I saw that he really
wanted my service (though I could not think why), I promised that I
would come back to him that day six months (if I were alive) and bring
him such answer as might be best for me and mine, and satisfactory to
himself. And as he took this answer well, I pledged me to return at the
appointed time, r id, three days later, rode off and made my way back to
my own land.

>;* 96. But, when departed from him, I was seized, in the city of Win-
chester, by a grievous fever, which, for a twelve-month and a week, vexed
me day and night, insomuch that I despaired even of life. And, when I
came not unto him at the set time, according to promise, he sent me a
note \i7idiculu)n\ to hasten my journey, and asking wherefore I stayed it.
But, as I could not ride unto him, I sent back another note, to show the
cause of my stay, and answer that, if I might be recovered of that sick-
ness, I was ready to carry out my promise. Then, when the sickness
left me, by the counsel and licence of all our folk [sc, the monks and
chapter of St. David's], for the good of that holy place and of all that
dwell therein, I pledged my service to the King, even as I had promised,
on these terms, that for six months a year I should abide with him (six
months on end, if I might, or three months in Britain and three again in
Saxony) ; and that, on this principle \riidimentitT)i\, the interests of
St. David might every way be furthered, to the best of my power.

§ 97. For our folk hoped that, if I came in this wise to the knowledge
and friendship of the King, they might have the less hurt and vexation
at the hands of King Hemid,^ who oft-times harried the abbey and diocese
\^parochiafn\ of St. David's. For at that time, and long before, all the
realms of South Wales [dexteralis Britam2icE\ belonged, as they do still,
t:o King Alfred. Hemid, in fact, with all the folk of Demetia [South
Wales], had put themselves under the King's sway, for the violence of
the six sons of Rodri.'^ Howel also, the son of Rhys, King of Gleguising,'^
and Brochmail and Fernail, sons of Maurice, King of Gwent,^ of their
own will sought unto the King, that he would be their Lord and Protector
— driven thereto by the tyrannical violence of Ethelred, Lord of the
Mercians.^ Helised, too, the King of Brecon, through force of these
same sons of Rodri, of himself besought the King's suzerainty. Yea, and
Anaraut, the son of Rodri, with his brethren, left, in the end, the friend-
ship of the Northumbrians'' (from which they never got good but harm).

I.e., made priest. The tonsure was given at his profession as a monk.
2 Hemid, King of South Wales, died 892 (Petrie, ' Annales Cambrise,' p. 836).
' King of North Wales, died 877 ('Ann. Camb.,' p. ^-^d).
* Districts of Monmouthshire. '" Ibid. ^ Alfred's son-in-law.

^ I.e., the Danes, who now held Northumbria.

io8 Alfred in the Chroniclers

and earnestly sought the friendship of the King, and came in to him. By the
King he was received with honour, and taken as his godson at the Bishop's
hand in Confirmation, and enriched with many a gift. And he, on his
part, submitted him to the Lordship of the King, on this troth, that in all
things he would obey the Royal will, even as Ethelred and the Mercian?.
Neither was it for nought that all these gained the King's friendship.
For they who were fain of more power and land found the same ; they
who loved money, money ; they who would have friendship, friendship ;
they who would have both, both. For all had the King's love and
ward and protection on every side — wheresoever the King and his folk
could protect themselves.

vi 98. When, therefore, I came unto him, in the town-royal called
Leonaford,^ I was received by him with all worship. And in that place I
abode with him at court for 8 months, wherein I read unto him what-
soever books he would, such as we had at hand. For this is his own
most special wont, despite of every hindrance, mental or bodily, either to .
read books to himself or to listen to others reading, day and night. And
though I often besought his leave to go home, yet could I no way obtain
it. And when I had at last made up my mind absolutely to demand
leave, he called me to him, at twilight on Christmas Eve, and handed me
two documents, wherein was an accurate inventory of all things in two
monasteries, which in Saxon are called Amesbury [Amgresbyri] and
Banwell. And that same day he made over to me those two monasteries,
with everything in them, also a pall of silk, very precious, and incense as
much as a strong man might carry, adding these words : ' This small
gift do I make you ; not that I mean it to be the last, nor the best in store
for you.' (And he did afterwards unexpectedly give me Exeter, with all
the diocese thereof in Saxony and in Cornwall ; besides daily gifts beyond
count, of every kind of earthly wealth, which it were long to reckon up
here, and tedious to my readers. But let none think that I here make
mention of these gifts for any vain glory, or lust of greater honour. For
I call God to witness that I do it for no such end ; but that I may make
it clear to them that know him not how profuse is his liberality.) Then
at once gave he me leave to ride to those two monasteries, so well
furnished with all good things, and thence to return home.

>; 99. In the year of our Lord's Incarnation 886, the 35th [38th] of
Alfred's age, the oft-mentioned host again fled the realm, and came into
the land of the West Franks, Into the river called Seine did they steer
their ships, and far up against the stream ; and came to the city of Paris
and there wintered and wrought them a stronghold, on abend in the river,
hard by the bridge, so that they stayed the towns-folk from crossing
thereby. For that city lieth in the midst of the river, on a little island.
For a whole year on end besieged they that city ; but, by the mercy and
grace of God, and the manful defence of the townsmen, never could they
break in.

^ Linford, in Berkshire.

Asser 109

§ icxD. In the same year Alfred, King of the Anglo-Saxons, worshipfully
restored the city of London, after the burning of the place and the
massacre of the folk thereof, and made men to dwell therein, and made
it over the wardship of Ethelred, Alderman of Mercia. And to this King
did all, both Angles and Saxons, who before were scattered far and wide
or were in bondage to the Heathen, freely come in and bowed them to his
sway.

§ loi. ^[In the same year there arose at Oxford a grievous and shameful
feud between Grimbald and those men of great learning, whom he had
brought thither with him, and the old schoolmen whom he found there,
who, at his coming, utterly refused to embrace the rules, customs, and
methods of lecturing, which this same Grimbald instituted. For three
years there had been dissension between them, nothing much ; but yet
the privy hate, which afterwards burst forth in most atrocious wise, was
clear as daylight. And to appease it, did King Alfred the Conqueror,
whom a message of complaint from Grimbald had let know of this feud,
himself come to Oxford, that he might put an end to this controversy.
And himself took he infinite trouble in hearing the case and the complaints
brought on either side.

§ 102. The head and front of the contention' lay in this. The old
schoolmen contended that, before Grimbald came to Oxford, letters had
flourished there more or less, even though the scholars were, as at that
time, fewer than of old, many having been driven out by the savage and
cruel Heathen. Moreover they proved and showed, and that by un-
disputed witness of the ancient Annals, that the ordinances and institutions
of the place had been sanctioned by many a pious and learned man (such
as St. Gildas, Melkin, Nennius, Kentigern, and others), who all passed
lettered lives there, and bare rule therein in all peace and happiness and
concord. Also that St. Germanus had come to Oxford, and stayed there
half a year, when he went through Britain to preach against the Pelagian
heresy, and was wonderfully pleased with the aforesaid ordinances and
institutions.

^ 103. The King, with unheard-of lowliness, heard out both sides with
the utmost care, giving them again and again salutary advice and
exhortation to keep the peace and agree together. Then departed he,
thinking that both sides would submit them to his counsel and embrace
his precepts. Grimbald, however, took it badly, and went off at once to
the Abbey newly founded by Alfred at Winchester, and finally took the
trouble to transfer to Winchester the tomb, wherein he proposed that his
bones should be laid, after his course here was run, and which had been
made under the chancel of St. Peter's at Oxford. For this church, in
sooth, Grimbald himself had built from the very foundation, of stone
polished with the utmost care.]

§ 104. In the year of our Lord's Incarnation 887, the 36th [39th] of the
age of King Alfred, the oft-named Heathen host left the city of Paris

^ All this is a fraudulent insertion. See p. 47.

no Alfred iii the Chroniclers

untaken, and (inasmuch as no other way was open to them) rowed their
fleet through the bridge and up the Seine, till they came to the mouth
of the river Marne [Materra]. There left they the Seine, and turned up
the Marne, and rowed up it, with no small toil, till they came to a place
called Chezy [Caziei], which is a town-royal, and there wintered they
one whole year. And, the year after, they made their way into the
mouth of the river Yonne [lona], and did great hurt to those parts.
And there abode they one year.

§ 105. In that same year Charle?, King of the Franks, went the way
of all flesh. But Arnulf, his nephew, had driven him from the kingdom
six weeks ere he died. And, so soon as ever he was dead, forthwith
five Kings were set up, and the realm was cut up into five shares.
Nevertheless the chief seat of the kingship came to Arnulf, as was
meet and right, save only for his unworthy sin against his uncle.
Moreover the other four Kings pledged their faith and obedience to
Arnulf, as was fitting ; for none of those four was heir to the kingdom
on the father's side, but Arnulf only. Thus were five Kings set up, so
soon as ever Charles was dead ; but the Empire abode with Arnulf.
Thus, then, was the kingdom divided ; Arnulf had the realms east of
the Rhine ; Rudolf [Hrothwlf] the midmost part of the kingdom ; Oda
the West ; Beorngar and Guy [Witha] Lombardy, and those parts which
are on that side of the mountain [the Alps] . Yet did they not hold
these realms, as they were, in peace. For twice they met in stricken
field, and oft wasted the realm, each in turn. And either drave the other
from the kingdom.

§ 106. In the same year, too, that the host left the city of Paris and
came to Chezy, Ethelhelm, the Alderman of Wiltshire, took to Rome
the alms of King Alfred and of the Saxons.

§ 107. In this year did Alfred, King of the Anglo-Saxons, first begin
by Divine inspiration on one and the self-same day both to read and
to interpret. But that I may explain this more fully I will relate the
cause of this late beginning. It came to pass on a certain day we were
both sitting in the King's chamber, conversing on all kinds of subjects,
as was our wont. And it chanced that I recited to him a quotation
\testimoniuiii\ from a certain book. He heard it attentively, with both
his ears, and pondered it deeply in his heart. Then suddenly showing
me a book which he carried in his bosom, wherein were written the Daily
Courses and Psalms and Prayers which he had read from his youth up,
he bade me write therein that same quotation. Hearing this and perceiv-
ing his willing wit and his devout eagerness for Divine Wisdom, then gave
I, though silently, boundless thanks to Almighty God, raising my hands
towards Heaven, that He had implanted in my King's heart such devotion
to Wisdom.

§ 108. But I could not find any empty space in the book wherein to
write the quotation, for it was already quite full of many a matter. Where-
fore I made some small tarrying, chiefly thereby to stir up the bright

Asser 1 1 1

intelligence of the King. And when he urged me to make haste and
write it speedily, I said unto him, ' Wilt thou that I should write it on
a separate leaf? For it is not certain but that we may yet find another
such extract, or even more, that may please you. And should that so
be we shall be glad to have kept them separate.' ' Try that plan,' he
replied. Then gladly did I haste to make ready a sheet \^gtcater?iio\ at
the beginning whereof I wrote the extract even as he bade. And that
self-same day I wrote also on that sheet no less than three more quota-
tions at his bidding, even as I had foretold. And every day after, as we
talked, did we find other like pleasing passages, till the sheet became
quite full. And rightly too. For it is written : ' The just buildeth on a
small foil fidatioji^ a fid, little by litte, passeth on to iiiore.^

§ 109. Even as a busy bee rangeth far and wide searching through the
wilds \^gronnios\ even so did he ever eagerly get together many a flowret
of the Divine Scriptures, with which he filled to overflowing the cells
of his heart. . . . For so soon as that first testimony was written down,
he set himself on the spot to read and interpret it in the Saxon tongue,
and then to begin many others.

§ no. And as we are taught by the happy thief who acknowledged
Jesus Christ, his Lord and ours, even as He hung beside him on that
adorable gibbet the holy Cross (for in lowly prayer he bent on Him
only his bodily eyes, seeing that otherwise he might not worship, so
transfixed with nails was he, and humbly cried ' Lord, remember me
when Thou comest into Thy kingdom '), and first began on the very
gallows \_gabido^ to learn the rudiments of the Christian Faith ; so, in
like manner (though in the very different position of a royal throne), did
Alfred, by Divine inspiration, first take upon him to begin the learning
of Holy Scripture on the Feast of St. Martin.

§ III. And these flowrets, gathered from all fields, learnt he from many
a master and set them in one book, as he might, one with another, by no
regular plan, till it grew by degrees to the size of a Psalter. And this
volume he called his Encheiridion, or Manual, or Handbook, because he
kept it at hand both night and day, and drew therefrom, as he would say,
no small comfort. . j

§ 112. But (even as it is written by a certain sage :

' Watchful their minds, who rule with pious care ')

I see that I must be on my guard, inasmuch as I have just made a
comparison between that happy thief and my King. For everyone
hateth a gibbet, and everywhere it is loathed. But what can a man do,
if he may not avoid the same, nor yet flee, nor yet by any device better
his case if he fleeth not .^ Needs must he, will he, nill he \yelit, nolit\
with woe and sadness endure the pain.

§ 113. Even so was the King pierced by the nails of many a sorrow,
King though he was. For from 20 years of age to 45 (which he is now
[893]) he has been incessantly worn down by the grievous attacks of an
unknown malady ; so that he has never known one quiet hour, wherein

112 Alfred in the Chroniclers

he is not either bearing the pang, or depressed almost to despair by the
dread thereof. Moreover the constant attacks of outlanders, which he
had to meet by land and sea, without rest or stay, troubled Lini with good
cause.

v^ 1 14. And what shall I say more .^ For the time would fail me to tell
how oft he went forth against the Heathen to war; how incessant were
his cares of kingship ; how day by day had he embassies from the folk
that dwell by the Tyrrhenian Sea, and unto the uttermost parts of
Ireland^ (yea, I have seen and read letters directed unto him by Abel,
Patriarch of Jerusalem, and gifts withal) ; of his restoring of towns and
cities, yea, and building such where none were before ; of the palaces of
gold and silver, beyond compare, set up under his teaching ; of the halls
and chambers, both of wood and stone, right royally and wondrously
wrought, by his bidding ; of the towns-royal moved, stone by stone, from
their ancient sites, and planted in fitter spots at his kingly command.

v^ 115. And, besides that pain, great trouble and vexation had he with
his own folk, who, of their own will, were ready to take little or no pains
for the common need of the realm. Yet, all alone, stood he, by God's
help, at the helm of the kingdom ; even as a master helmsman setteth
him (though nearly all his seamen be weary), to bring his ship, with all
its rich cargo, safe unto the haven where he would be in his own land.
Even so suffered he in himself no fainting nor wavering, though amid
the many eddies and tideways \^fliictivagos\ of this present world.

v^ 116. For his Bishops, and Aldermen, and all his servants of high
degree, whom most he loved, yea, and his Sheriffs \^prcEposilos\ (to
whom, after God and the King, the sway of the whole realm seemeth
meetest to be entrusted), with the utmost care and wisdom, did he bend
and bind to his will and to the common weal, and by gentle teaching, by
kind attentions \_adulando\ by exhortation, by command, and, in the last
resort, by sharp punishment of the disobedient, and by showing, in every
way, his loathing of their low-bred folly and obstinacy.

§ 1 17. Yet, despite of his kingly exhortations, such was the slothfulness
of the folk that his bidding was not carried out, or so late that it came
tono good end or use; — (there are strongholds I could name, ordered by
him and not begun to this day, or begun too late and not wrought to an
end). For either did the enemies' force, land or sea, break in, or fas
often happened) they who at first set them against the King's ordinances
\deJiiiitioniuii\ were sore ashamed, when on the brink of ruin, and
repented them in vain. For a vain repentance I call it (and by Scripture
warrant), which so many often feel when struck by grievous loss through
the many ill-deeds they have perpetrated. For though, through this
thing, (out and alas !) they be in misery and sorrow, and moved to tears
by the loss of their parents, their wives, their children, their servants,
their slaves, their handmaidens, their trade, and all that they had, yet

^ Hispaiiia (instead of Hihernia) is the reading in some MSS. But Ireland
was looked upon as the extreme West of Europe.

Asser 1 1 3

what availeth such futile repentance? For neither can they help their
friends that be slain, nor redeem them that be captive from their loathed
thraldom, nor even, oftentimes, help themselves, though they be escaped,
seeing they have nought whereby to keep life in them. Then, all too
late, do that fair-spoken folk [culogii'l repent indeed, and grieve for their
careless contempt of the King's writ, and with one voice praise the
King's wisdom, and vow to fulfil with all their strength what erst they
refused ; with regard to working strongholds, that is, and other things
that be for the common weal of the realm.

§ 118. Here too I hold it profitable not to pass over the matter of his
vow, and the proposition which he so well thought out ; and of which
neither in prosperity nor adversity did he ever lose hold. For, amongst
the other good deeds which were his daily and nightly study, he, thinking,
as was his wont, of the needs of his soul, bade two abbeys be builded.
The one was for monks, in the place called Athelney, which is girt by
great and wide fens \_^ro?t?ua\ swampy and impassable to a degree. Nor
can any reach it by any means whatsoever, save by canoes [^cauticis], or
by one single bridge. This bridge was built between two towers with
toilsome skill ; and at the west end thereof was set, by the King's com-
mand, yet another tower, strong beyond the rest, and of beautiful work-
manship. And in this Abbey he gathered monks of divers race from far
and wide, and set them therein.

v; 119. For, in the first place, he had not of his own kin one high-born
or free man (save infants, who, by reason of their tender age, could not
yet either choose the good or refuse the evil) ready, of his own free will,
to take upon him the monastic life. For in sooth the desire for monastic
life had, by the space of many a year, both in that race and in many
others, come utterly to an end. And, although there yet remain many
monasteries built in that land, yet none commonly holdeth that Rule of
life. Why, I know not. It may be through the attacks of the aliens,
who so oft break in as foemen by land and sea ; or, perchance, by the
over-abundant riches of the English, which I much rather hold to be the
cause of their contempt for the monastic life.

§ 120. Therefore did Alfred set him to get together in that Abbey
monks of divers race ; first John, who was of Old Saxon kin, and whom
he made Abbot, next certain priests and deacons from over-sea. And,
seeing he had not yet the number he wanted, he got furthermore several
infants, also of Gallic race, whom he bade to be bred up in the Abbey,
and thereafter raised to the monastic habit. And in that Abbey, too,
did I see one monk even of Heathen [Danish] kin, who had been brought
up in the Abbey ; nor was he the last of such.

§ 121. Moreover a foul deed once upon a time wrought in that Abbey
would I not give over to the noiseless oblivion of mute silence ; though
an unworthy deed it was. For throughout all scripture the shameful
doings of the wicked are interspersed amid the worshipful actions of the
just, even as tares and bindweed amid the wheat-crops. And this, to the

8

1 1 4 Alfred m the CJiroiiiclers

end that the good may be praised, followed, and valued, and that their
imitators also may be held worthy of all honour ; while the bad are
blamed, and cursed, and altogether held aloof from, and their imitators
branded with the common hate and contempt, and the vengeance of all
men.

§ 122. For, once upon a time, by giving place to the devil, a certain
priest and a certain deacon amongst these monks, Frenchmen by kin,
were roused to hidden envy against this John, their Abbot. And so
bitter grew they (all too secretly), that, even as Judas [/udaico more],
they plotted against their lord, and betrayed him. For they hired two
serving lads [servtdos], of their own French kin, and treacherously taught
them how, at dead of night, when everybody was asleep, in full enjoy-
ment of its delicious rest, they should arm them, and open the church
door, and creep in, and shut it behind them, and hide away, and await
the coming-in of the Abbot all alone. And when, after his wont, he had
entered the church for private prayer, and was on his knees before the
holy Altar, they should rush in upon him, and slay him, if they might,
upon the spot, and drag his dead body thence, and cast it down before
the door of a certain harlot, as though he had been slain in fornication.
All this plot laid they, adding crime to crime ; even as it is said, ' And
the last error shall be worse than the first.''

§ 123. But by God's mercy, which ever helpeth the guiltless, the wicked
counsel of these wicked men was mostly brought to nought, so that all
came not to pass as they had proposed. So this bad lesson was taught
with all clearness by these bad teachers to their bad scholars, and the
set night came and closed in, and all seemed safe, and those two thiev-
lings \latrunculos] shut they up in the church to await the coming of the
Abbot.

§ 124. And when, in the middle of the night, John, after his wont, had
entered the church to pray in secret, no man wotting thereof, and was on
his knees bowed down before the Altar, then, all at once, out rushed upon
him those two thievlings, with drawn swords, and cruelly struck and
wounded him. But he, after his wont, was ever of ready wit, and, as I
have been told, not without warcraft, had not a better discipline been his.
At once then, even as he heard the noise of those thieves, before he saw
them, rose he readily against them, ere yet he was wounded, and strove
against them all he might, shouting aloud, and crying that they were
fiends, not men. For indeed he knew no otherwise, nor thought he that
men would have dared this deed.

§ 125. His own folk, aroused by the fray, and hearing the cry, 'Fiends !
Fiends !' were frightened to death, and knew not what to do. Yet ran
they from all sides to the church door, yea, even those twain who, like
Judas, had betrayed their Lord. But, before they got thither, the thiev-
lings had rushed off headlong, leaving the Abbot half dead, and sought
hiding in the neighbouring fen.

§ 126. And the monks picked up their Superior half dead, and bare

Asser 115

him home with lamentation and mourning, and the traitors wept as loudly
as the innocent. But God's mercy suffered not so foul a deed to go un-
punished. The thievlings, who had done it, were caught, and bound,
they and their inciters to the villainy, one and all, and died a death of
shame, in torments many a one. So, having told this tale, let us go back
to our task.

vj 127. Our King aforesaid bade to build yet another Abbey, by the
east gate of Shaftesbury [Sceftresburg], as an abode for nuns [sa?tcti-
moniales], and made his own daughter Elgiva [^thelgeofu], a virgin
vowed to God, Abbess there. And along with her dwelleth in that same
Abbey many another high-born nun, serving God in the monastic life.
And these two Abbeys endowed he richly with lands and wealth of all
kind.

vj 128. When all this was thus settled, as was his wont, he took thought
with himself what more he could add which might make yet further for
pious meditation. Fruitful were his beginnings, profitable his concep-
tions, more profitable his continuance in well doing. For long ago had
he heard the promise of the Lord, even as it is written in the Law, that
He would return His tithe a thousandfold, and that the promise of the
Lord is faithful, and that He woicld return His tithe a thousandfold.
Stirred by this, and willing to overpass the wont of his fore-fathers, our
pious thinker devoutly and faithfully vowed with his whole heart that he
would give unto God the half of his service — the half of his time, to wit,
both night and day, yea, and the half of all the wealth that came in to
him year by year with right and justice. And, so far as human discern-
ment can perceive, did he study both to keep this vow with ail his mind,
and with all his wisdom to fulfil the same.

^ 129. But, after his wont, he was careful not to offend against that
warning which is written elsewhere in Holy Scripture : ' Thotcgh thou
offerest aright^ yet sin7iest thou^ if so be thou divides t not aright. ^'^ There-
fore took he thought how he might divide aright his free-will offering and
vow unto the Lord. And, as saith Solomon, '7;^ the Hand of the Lord
is the King's keart^^ — that is his counsel — even so by Divine inspiration
took he counsel with himself, whence he bade his officers divide his
annual income always into two equal shares, to begin with. When this
was done he assigned the first share to secular affairs ; and bade it be
divided again into three shares.

§ 130. The first of these he gave yearly to his soldiers, and also to his
high-born thanes, who by turns abode in the royal court, serving in many
an office. (For the Royal, Household \^familiaritas^ was commonly ever
worked by three relays, and the courtiers of our King were divided into
three bands \cohortes\ whereof the one abode day and night in the
Royal Court for one month. And when the month was ended, another
band came on duty, and the first went home and there abode two months,
seeing each to his own private affairs. So also the second band, when

^ See Note C, p. 119. ^ Prov. xxi. i.

8—2

ii6 Alfred in the Chroniclers

its month was up, returned home, and there abode two months ; and the
third came on duty. And it too served for one month, and when the
first came on again, returned home, and there abode two months. By
this roster the service of the Royal Court is ever arranged even unto the
present day.) Thus then assigned he the first of the three shares of this
half of his wealth, to each according to his several dignity and his several
ministry.

v^ 131. But the second share gave he to the craftsmen, whom he had
got together from many a race, and in almost countless numbers, well
skilled in every kind of building known on earth. And the third share
gave he to the strangers of every race who flocked unto him from far
and near and asked of him money. Nay, even though they asked not,
yet gave he to each according to his several worthiness, full gladly, and
with a wondrously open hand, beyond all praise ; even as it is written :
' God loveth a cheerful giver^ [2 Cor. ix. 7].

§ 132. But the second half of all the wealth which yearly came in to
him, from whatever source, and was paid into his privy purse, he vowed,
as we have just now said, freely and fully to God. And he bade his
officers heedfully to part the same into four shares, in such wise, that
the first of these shares should be paid over to the poor of every race
who came unto him. And this with the utmost carefulness, for he minded
him in this matter to take heed, so far as man's discretion might serve,
to the saying of St. Gregory,^ which, in treating rightwise almsgiving,
ran thus : ' Give not little to whom you should give niuch^ nor much to
whoju little^ nor nought to whom ought^ nor ought to who7n nought!

§ 133. And the second part he gave to the two Abbeys of his own founda-
tion (whereof we have lately spoken at greater length), and to the servants
of God therein. And the third to the School, wherein he had so carefully
gathered many of the high-born of his own race. And the fourth to the
Abbeys round about, in all Wessex and Mercia. And in some years,
too, he gave, as he might, or proposed to give later (saving his own life
and issue), by turn to the churches in Wales and Cornwall, in Gaul,
'Britanny, Northumbria, and even, now and then, in Ireland, and to the
servants of God who dwelt therein.

§ 131. When our King had thus set all this in order, he minded him
of that verse of Holy Scripture which saith : ^ He who would give alms
must first give himself! Then thought he out with all prudence what
of the service of his own body and mind he might give unto God. For
of this he proposed to give unto God no less than of his outward wealth.
Yea, moreover he vowed that the half of the service of his mind and
body, so far as his weakness and power and sufficiency would permit,
would he, by day and night alike, of his own free will and with all his
might, render unto God.

§ 13$. But, inasmuch as by night he could not rightly tell the hours,
because of the darkness, and by day because of the constant showers and

^ *De Cura Pastorali,' III., xxi.

Asser ii'j

clouds, he set himself to think out how, trusting in God's mercy, he might,
by some fixed rule and without hesitation, keep this vow changelessly,
even unto death. And, when he had thought this over for a while, he
found out at length a useful device, and of good wit. Then bade he
his chaplains bring him wax enough, and weigh it out in the balance
against pennies. And when so much wax had been measured out as
weighed J2 pennies, he bade his chaplains make thereof six candles of
equal weight, and that each candle should have 12 'mch&s[undas polltcis']
marked thereon. So, when this device had been hit upon, those six
candles were lighted, and burnt without fail day and night throughout
the 24 hours before the holy relics of many a Saint of God, which were
ever with him whithersoever he went.

^ 136. Sometimes, however, these candles would not last throughout
a whole day and night, even unto the same hour at which they had been
lighted the evening before ; — and this through the draughts of wind which,
day and night, ceaselessly blew in through the doors and windows of the
churches, and through the many chinks in the stonework and the wood-
work and the partitions, yea, and the holes in tents, and caused the
candles to burn away over quickly, before completing their hour. There-
fore thought he out how he might hinder this draught, and found a plan,
like a wise and cunning craftsman, and bade make of wood and horn
a full fair lantern. For cowhorn is white, and, when planed down to a
thin sheet, as transparent as glass. And when this wonderful lantern
of wood and horn was completed, a candle set therein gave as much light
inside as though it were outside, and was let and hindered by never a
draught, for he had bade a horn door [valvajn'] to be made to the mouth
of the lantern. By this device, then, the six candles, one after the other,
burnt without stay for the 24 hours, neither more nor less. And when
they went out others were lighted.

$ 137. Now when all this was wholly set in order, he was fain to keep
the half of his service for God, according to his vow ; — nay, even more, so
far as his power and sufficiency (to say nothing of his infirmity) would
permit. At great length moreover did he look into the truth of the judg-
ments he gave ; and this chiefly through his care for the poor, to whom,
amid the other duties of this life, he ever took special heed. For in all the
whole realm, save him alone, the poor had few or none to champion them.
For all the high and mighty of the land gave thought to the things of this
world rather than the things of God. Yea, more greedy was each of his
own worldly gain than for the common weal.

§ 138. Pains, likewise, took he in judgment, for the good of his folk,
high-born and low-born ahke. For at the courts of the Aldermen and
Sheriffs would they oft-times perversely strive together, so that scarce a
man, whatsoever the doom of the Aldermen and Sheriffs might be, would
allow it to be right. And through stress of this perverse stubbornness,
all appealed \^suboral)a?it^ to the King's own judgment, and, on either
side, hasted them thereto. Howbeit were any conscious of unright in his

iiS Alfred in the CJironiclers

cause, he, though bound by law and bond to come, yet came he against
his will, for never would he by choice appear before the judgment-seat of
such a judge. For well he knew that there no whit of his wrong-doing
could be pleaded for a moment.

§ 139. And no wonder ; for in deciding a case, as in all things else, our
King was a most keen searcher out of truth. For nearly every sentence
given throughout the whole realm, in his absence, did he himself revise
with all his wit, whether they were righteous or unrighteous. And if he
perceived in those sentences ought of injustice, then would he mildly
summon the judges before him, either in person or by some accredited
friend, and would ask them why they had judged thus wrongfully. Was
it through ignorance ? Was it through malice? Was it for love or fear
of any .'* Was it for hate of any ? Was it through greed of money .''

§ 140. And, in the end, if those judges confessed that they had given
judgment for any such reason, as that they knew no better, then would
he, with good sense and self-control, blame their lack of skill and wisdom,
and say, 'Much, truly, do I wonder at this rashness of yours, that ye,
who, by God's gift and mine, take upon you the office and rank of the
wise, yet neglect to study and work wisdom. I bid you, therefore, either
at once to lay down that earthly authority and office which ye hold, or
set yourselves to much more earnest study of wise teaching. Such is
my behest.'

vi 141. At hearing this would the Aldermen and Sheriffs tremble, as
though they had been chastised full sorely, and strove with all their might
to turn to the study of Equity. Thus, wondrous to tell, did the Aldermen,
Sheriffs, and Thanes, unlettered men as they were, almost all, even from
their cradles, set to work at letters with a will. For sooner chose they
to learn unwonted lessons, hard though they found it, than give up their
office and authority.

s? 142. But if any, either from age or from slowness of wit (through
lack of use), could make no speed in his liberal studies, then would he
bid his son, if he had one, or some other kinsman, or even, if it might no
better be, his own man, free or thrall (whom he had long before made a
reader), to recite to him Saxon books, day and night, whensoever leisure
\licentid\ might serve. And with many a sigh grieved he from his inmost
heart, that he had not in youth set him to these studies. And happy
counted he the lads of to-day, who could have the good fortune to be
trained in liberal arts. But themselves they thought unlucky, seeing that
in their youth they had never been taught, and in age, much as they
longed therefor, learn they could not. So now we have set forth the
pains of both old and young in learning letters at our King's bode.
* -x- * * -x-

[Here Asser abruptly breaks ofif. His later paragraphs bear evident
internal marks of having been written after Alfred's deai^h, and we do
not know what prevented the completion of the biography. The obituary
notice which follows is almost certainly a compilation from later

Asser 119

authorities, though doubtless Asser intended to conclude with something
of the sort.]

■X- -x- * -x- -x-

[In the year of our Lord 900, Alfred the Truth-teller, in war ever the
sturdiest of heroes, noblest of the Kings of Wessex, prudent and religious
and wise beyond all, in this year, after reigning 29 years and a half over
all England (save those parts which were under the Danes), to the
grievous woe of his folk, went the way of all flesh on the 7th of the
Kalends of November [Oct. 26], in the year of his reign 29 and a half,
of his age 51, of the indiction 4. And in the royal city of Winchester was
he buried meetly, with all royal honours, in the church of St. Peter the
Prince of the Apostles. And there standeth his tomb, wrought of marble
porphyry, most precious.]

Note A.

Ethandune, p. lOO.

Bishop Clifford's ingenious theory that Edington in Somerset (near Glastonbury)
is intended seems barely possible. This place is some 40 miles from both Brixton
and Chippenham. The former of these Asser places but a day's march from the
battlefield, and the latter h-e certainly implies to be the stronghold to which the
Danes were chased instantly after the fight. Edington near Westbury is some
12 miles from either, and about half-way between, Heddington, near Calne, also
satisfies Asser's conditions. Bishop Clifford finds Iglea in Edgar Lea, near Glaston-
bury, and Cynuit at Combwich.

Note B.
Eald-Seaxum, p, 102.

The old Saxons are placed by Alfred, in his ' Orosius' (§ 12), to the north of
the East Franks, between the Elbe and Rhine, and south-east of the Frisians
(Hollanders). Yet, by some confusion, he makes their western boundary the
mouth of the Elbe. Asser, therefore, may have meant this by the sinus in § 73.
Or he may mean the mouth of the Rhine, or of the Scheldt.

Note C.

Holy Scripture^ p. 115.

This quotation is not from the Bible, and its source appears to be untraceable.
But there existed amongst the Jews very elaborate traditional rules for the
' dividing aright ' of the Temple offerings. And these were widely enough known
to be incidentally referred to by St. Paul, in 2 Tim. ii. 15 : 'rightly dividing the
Word of Truth.'

II.

THE ANGLO-SAXON CHRONICLE.

OF the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle six early MSS. are
still extant, one in Corpus Christi College,
Cambridge, one in the Bodleian Library, and the
remainder among the Cottonian collection in the British
Museum. They do not all cover the same period of history ;
some beginning with the invasion of Julius Caesar, others with
the Christian Era, and ending, also, at various dates, from
977 to 1 1 54. Internal evidence shows them to have been
written at sundry times (none later than the twelfth century),
and in divers parts of England — Wessex, Kent, Mercia, and
Northumbria. But all are from a common ninth-century
exemplar. The latest original handwriting of any copy ends
1 122, the earliest 891. This last is the Cambridge MS., which
formerly belonged to the library of Canterbury Abbey. Like
all other books in abbey libraries throughout England, it was
sold for waste-paper at the Reformation, but rescued by Arch-
bishop Parker, who gave it to his old College. It was pro-
bably written early in the tenth century.

The standard edition of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle is that
of Messrs. Petrie and Hardy.

The Ano^lo- Saxon Chronicle 121

ENTRIES RELATING TO THE LIFE OF ALFRED
IN THE ANGLO-SAXON CHRONICLE.

851. This year King Athelstan [of Kent] and Ealhere the Alderman
cut to pieces a mighty host at Sandwich in Kent, and took nine ships,
and put the rest to flight. The Heathen, for the first time, stayed over
winter, and that in Thanet. And this same year came there 350 ships
into Thames-mouth, and they stormed Canterbury, and eke London, and
put to flight Beorhtwulf, King of the Mercians, and his host with him.
Then went they south over Thames into Surrey ; and there King Ethel-
wulf and his son Ethelbald, with all the muster of the West Saxons, fought
them at Ockley. And there made they the greatest slaughter among the
Heathen host that ever was heard tell of, and there won the day.

* -Jf- -X- ■5«- *

853. This year . . . King Ethelwulf sent his son Alfred to Rome. Leo
was then Pope of Rome, and took him for his own son in Confirmation. . . .
And Ethelwulf . . . gave his daughter to Burghred, King of the Mercians.

855. . . . King Ethelwulf gave by writ the tenth part of his land for the
glory of God and his own eternal salvation. And the same year he went
to Rome, with mickle worship, and there dwelt he a twelvemonth, and
then home again. Then did Charles, King of the Franks, give his
daughter unto him for wife ; and so came he back to his folk, and right
glad they were thereof. And about two years after he died, and his body
lieth at Winchester. And he reigned eighteen years and a half.
•^ -x- -X- -if -x-

Then came Ethelwulf's two sons to the kingdom. Ethelbald took the
realm of the West Saxon?, and Ethelbert the Kentish-men, and the East
Saxons, and Surrey, and the South Saxons. . . .

And when Pope Leo heard say that he [Ethelwulf] was dead, then
hallowed he Alfred to King. . . .

860. This year died King Ethelbald ; and lieth at Sherborne. And
Ethelbert took on all his brother's kingdom ; and in goodly peace did he
hold it, and great quietness.

And in his days came there a mighty ship-host to land, and stormed
Winchester. And Osric the Alderman, with the men of Hampshire, and
Ethelwulf the Alderman, with his Berkshire men, fought that host, and
put them to flight, and held the death-stead \i,e.^ won the field]. And
Ethelbert reigned five years ; and lieth at Sherborne.

861. This year died St. Swithun the Bishop.

865. The Heathen host sat them down in Thanet, and made peace
with the men of Kent, and they plighted them pay for that peace. Yet
amid the peace and the pay-plight the Host by night stole away, and
harried all Kent eastward.

866. This year Ethelred, Ethelbert's brother, came into the West Saxon
kingship.

122 Alfred m the Chroniclers

And the same year came there into Angle-kin a mighty Heathen host,
and wintered among the East Angles. And there were they horsed.
And the East Angles made peace with them.

867. This year went the Host from East Anglia, over Humber mouth,
to the city of York in Northumbria. And there was much strife among
that folk betwixt themselves, insomuch that they had cast out their King
Osbert, and taken to themselves Ella as their King, and he was of no
family. Yet, though late, they set them, this year, to fight the Host.
Therefore gathered they a mighty muster, and sought the Host at York,
and some of them got within. And endless slaughter was there made on
the Northumbrians, some within and some without [the walls]. And the
Kings were both slain. And the rest made peace with the Host.

868. This year that same Host went into Mercia to Nottingham, and
there wintered. And Burghred, King of the Mercians, and his Witan,
besought help of Ethelred, King of the West Saxons, and of Alfred his
brother, that they might fight with the Host. Then came they into
Mercia, with the full force of Wessex, even unto Nottingham. And there
found they the Host within the stronghold, and beset them therein. Yet
was there no fighting ; and the Mercians made peace with the Host.

869. This year went the Host again unto York, and sat therein one
year.

870. This year the Host rode over Mercia into East Anglia, and took
winter-rest at Thetford. And the same winter King Edmund fought
with them. And the Danes won the day. And the King they slew, and
all the whole land brought they under, and brake down all the Minsters
that ever they came to. The names of the two chiefs who slew the King
were Ingwair and Ubba. And they came, as at that time, to Medes-
hampstead, and burnt it, and brake it all down, and slew Abbot and
monks and all that they found there. And that place, which before was
full rich, brought they to nothing.

* * ^ ^ f:

871. This year came the Host to Reading in Wessex. And some three
days after, rode two of their earls forth. Then met them Ethelwulf the
Alderman, at Englefield, and there fought with them, and won the day.
And there was one of them slain ; his name was Sidroc.

Some four days more and King Ethelred [Aethered], with Alfred his
brother, led on a great force to Reading, and fought with the Host. And
there was great slaughter made on either hand ; and Ethelwulf the
Alderman was slain, and the Danish-men held the death-stead. Yet
another four days, and King Ethelred and Alfred his brother fought with
that whole Host at Ashdown [Aescesdune]. And they were in two bodies
\_gcfylciu)i\ : in the one were Bachseg and Halfdene, the heathen Kings,
and in the other the Earls. Then fought King Ethelred with the Kings ;
and there was King Bagsecg slain. And Alfred his brother fought with
the Earls ; and there was slain Earls Sidoc the Elder, and Sidoc the
Younger, and Osbearn, and Frena, and Harold. And both parts of the

The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle 123

Host were put to flight ; and many thousands were there slain ; and they
stood fighting on even unto nightfall.

And, about a fourteen days after, King Ethelred and Alfred his brother
fought with the Host at Basing ; and there the Danes won the field.
And, two months later, King Ethelred and Alfred his brother fought with
the Host at Merton. Two bodies were thereof them ; and both did they
put to flight ; and for the most of the day had the better ; and much
slaughter was there on either hand. Yet held the Danes the death-stead.
And there Bishop Heahmund [of Sherborne] was slain, and many a good
man.

And after this fight came a great summer-lead^ to Reading. And over
Easter [Ap. 15] King Ethelred died. He had reigned five years. And
his body lieth at Wimborne Minster. And Alfred Ethelwulfing [/.<?.,
Ethelwulf 's son] took to the West Saxon kingship.

And, about one month after, did King Alfred, with but a small band,
fight with all the whole Host at Wilton. And for the most of the day
put he them to flight : yet the Danes held the death-stead.

And this year were there fought against the Host, in the land from
Thames southward, nine stricken fields. Yea, and beside these, Alfred
the King's brother, and many an Alderman, and many a King's Thane,
ofttimes made, each for himself, raids upon them, which are not counted.
And within the year nine Earls were slain, and one King thereto. And
that year the West Saxons made peace with the Host.

872. This year the Host went off from Reading to London, and there
wintered. And the Mercians made peace with them.

873. This year the Host went into Northumbria, and at Torksey in
Lindsey did they winter.

874. This year went the Host from Lindsey to Repton, and there they
wintered. And King Burghred drave they over-sea, about 22 years since
he came to that kingdom, and they brought under the whole land, and
he went to Rome, and there abode, and lieth in St. Mary's Church, at the
English School. And that same year gave they the kingdom of the
Mercians to the ward of one Ceolwulf, a King's Thane, and a fool withal.
And he sware oaths to them, and gave sureties thereto, that the kingdom
should be ready for them on whatsoever day they would have it. Yea,
and that he likewise would be ready, himself and all who would follow
him, at the behest of the Host.

875. Then went the Host away from Repton. And with some of them
went off Halfdene into Northumbria, and wintered by Tyne-side. And
his Host brought under that land, and spoiled ofttimes the Picts, and
the Strathclyde Britons. And three Kings, Guthrum, and Oscytel, and
Anwynd, fared unto Cambridge with a great Host, and sat them down
there one year.^

And that summer did King Alfred put out to sea with a ship-force, and

^ See p. 10. ^ See note, p. 131,

124 Alfred in the Chroniclers

fought against seven ship-crews. And one of them he took, and the rest
he put to flight.

876. This year the Host stole away to Wareham, a West-Saxon strong-
hold. And thereafter made the King peace with them, and they gave
unto him sureties, of the best in the Host and most of worship ; yea, and
sware unto Him upon the Holy Ring (which never before would they do
to any folk), that they would speedily leave his kingdom. Yet, notwith-
standing, such of the Host as were horsed stole away from the stronghold
by night, even unto Exeter.

And King Halfdene shared out the lands of Northumbria, and thence-
forth they abode thereon, ploughing and tilling the same.

This year Rollo and his gang overran Normandy ; and he reigned
there fifty years.

Z']']. Now came the Host from Wareham unto Exeter. And a fleet
came sailing westward, and at sea a great storm overcame them, and
there at Swanwich were they wrecked, 120 ships. And King Alfred with
his men rode after the horsemen of the Host, even unto Exeter ; yet
might they not overtake them ere they were within the fastness ; and
there might they not be come at. Yet gave they unto him sureties, as
many as he would, and sware many oaths. And this time they kept the
peace well. And afterwards, in Harvest-tide, went that Host into Mercia.
And some of the land shared they out among them, and some made they
over to Ceolwulf.

878. This year, during midwinter, after Twelfth-night, the Host stole
away to Chippenham, and overran all the land of the West Saxons, and
sat them down there. And many of the folk drave they over-sea, and,
of the rest, they brought under the most, and forced them to yield to
their sway, save only King Alfred, And he, with a small band, gat him
away to the woods, and that hardly, and to the fastnesses of the fens.

And that same winter came [Hubba] the brother of Ingwar and Halfdene
with 23 ships unto Devonshire in Wessex. And there was he slain, and
840 of his folk with him ; and there was taken the war-flag which they
called the Raven.

' After this, at Easter [23rd March], King Alfred, with a small band,
wrought him a stronghold at Athelney. And from this stronghold ever
and anon fought they against the Host.

Then in the seventh week after Easter rode he to Egbert's Stone, on
the east of Selwood. And there came in unto him all the men of
Somerset, and the Wiltshire men, and of the Hampshire men such as
were yet on this side the water. And right glad they were of him. And
next day he went on thence to Iglea, and next day again to Ethandun.^
And there fought he against all the whole Host, and put them to flight,
and chased them even unto their stronghold ; and there he sat fourteen
nights. Then did the Host give him sureties, with many an oath, that
they would leave his kingdom. And they plighted unto him their troth

^ See p. 119. i

%

The Afiglo-Saxoii Chronicle 125

that their King should undergo Baptism [ ntlwhite onfon\ and this they
fulfilled even so.

And, some three weeks after, came unto him King Guthrum, with
some thirty more, the worthiest men in the Host, at Aire, near Athelney.
And in Baptism the King was his Godfather. And his chrism-loosing^
was at Wedmore. And twelve nights abode he with the King ; and many
a worthy gift gave he to him and his.

879. This year the Host from Chippenham fared to Cirencester, and
sat there one year. And that same year there drew together a gang of
pirates, and sat them down at Fulham on Thames.

And the sun was eclipsed for one hour of the day [14 March, 880.]

880. This year fared the Host from Cirencester into East Anglia, and
settled there, and shared out that land. And the Host that erewhile
abode at Fulham fared over sea to Ghent in Frank-land, and there sat
one year.

881. This year went that Host further into Frank-land. And the
Franks fought with them. And then was the Host there horsed, after
that fight.

882. This year went the Host far up into Frank-land along the Maese.
And there they sat one year.

And King Alfred put to sea with his ships, and fought with four ship-
crews of Danish men. And two of them he took, and all on board were
slain. And two yielded them to him ; and sore broken and wounded
were they ere that yielding.

883. This year fared the Host up the Scheldt to Cond^, and sat there
the year.

And Marinus the Pope sent unto King Alfred the Lord's Rood \lignu7n
Domini\ . And that same year Sighelm and Athelstane bare to Rome
the alms that the King had vowed to send thither, and eke to India, to
St. Thomas and St. Bartholomew, when they sat down against the Host
that was in London. And there, thanks be to God, was the end of that
vow full largely fulfilled unto them.

884. This year went the Host up the Somme to Amiens, and there sat
one year.

885. This year the aforesaid Host parted in twain. The one band
went eastward, the other to Rochester, and sat down against the town,
and wrought another stronghold round about them. Notwithstanding
this, the townsfolk held out till King Alfred came forth with his muster.
Then fled the Host to their ships, and left their stronghold. Of their
horses eke were they spoiled ; and eftsoon hied them in this wise
over sea.

And, from Kent, King Alfred sent his fleet unto East Anglia. So soon
as they came into Stour-mouth then met them 16 pirate ships; and they
fought therewith, and took the ships, one and all, and slew the ship-men.
And even as they wended homeward with the spoil there met them a

^ See p. 36.

126 Alfred m the Chroniclers

great fleet of pirates, and that very day fought them. And the Danish
men won that day.

That same year, before mid-winter, died Carloman, King of the Franks,
slain by a wild boar. And, one year before, his brother [Louis III.] had
died ; he too held the West Realm [modern France]. Both these were
sons of Louis, who also held the West Realm : and he was son of
Charles [the Bald], whose daughter Ethelwulf, King of the West Saxons,
had to Queen.

And that same year a mighty fleet drew together against the Old
Saxons [near the mouth of the Elbe], and two great fights had they that
one year, and the Saxons had the best of it, and the Frisians [of Holland]
along with them.

That same year did Charles [the Fat] take on the West Realm, yea,
and all the sway on this side the Wendel Sea^ [the Mediterranean] and
beyond it \i.e. in Italy] in like wise as his great-grandfather [Charle-
magne] held it, save the Lid-wiccas [Bretons] only. This Charles was
son of Louis, and he was brother of Charles (father of Judith), and they
were sons of Louis. And he was son of Charles the Elder [Charlemagne],
and he of Pepin.

And the same year died the good Pope Marinus, who, at the prayer
of Alfred, King of the West Saxons, freed the English School ; and
sent him withal great gifts, and a bit of the Rood whereon hung Christ.

886. This year that Host which erewhile went eastward [in 885] came
westward again, and so up the Seine, and sat down for the winter hard
by Paris.

That same year did King Alfred build again London ; and all England
\A7iglecyn\ came in unto him, save they who were held in bondage of the
Danish men ; and he gave over the town to the ward of Ethelred the
Alderman.

887. This year went the Host up through Paris Bridge, and so along
Seine unto the Marne, and thence up the Marne to Ch^zy, and sat them
down there and on the Yonne, two winters in the two places.

Tf -if * * •*

And Ethelhelm the Alderman bare the alms of the West Saxons and
Alfred unto Rome.

888. This year Beocca the Alderman bare the alms to Rome. And
Queen Elswitha [widow of Burghred of Mercia], King Alfred's sister, died
on the way thither, and lieth at Padua. . . .

889. This year was there no going to Rome, save that King Alfred sent
two errand-doers with letters.

890. This year Abbot Beornhelm bare the alms to Rome.

And Guthrum, the Norseman King, died. In Baptism was he hight
Atheistan, and he was King Alfred's Godson [see 878] ; and in East Anglia
he abode, and first settled that land.

^ This name is an interesting reminiscence of the days, three centuries back,
when the Vandal fleets of Carthage scourged every shore in the Mediterranean.

The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle 127

And this year the Host went from the Seine to St. Lo, which is between
Britanny and France. And the Bretons fought against them, and won
the field, and drave them down into the river, and drowned full
many.

This year was Plegnumd chosen of God and of all the people to the
Archbishopric of Canterbury.

891. This year went the Host eastward. And King Arnulf, with the
East Franks, and Saxons, and Bavarians, fought with the horsemen
thereof, ere the ships came up, and put them to flight.

And three Scots came to King Alfred in a rudderless boat, from Ireland,
whence they had stolen away, for that they would fain, for God's love, be
in pilgrimage, they recked not whither. Their boat was made of two
hides and a half; and they took with them seven days' victual. And
about the seventh day came they to shore in Cornwall, and eftsoon went
unto King Alfred. Dubslane were they hight, and Macbeth, and Mac-
linnum [Maclean].

892. This year, after Easter, about Rogation-tide [29 May], or sooner,
showed there that star which in Latin is called Comet. In English some
folk call it Hairy Star S^fcaxode steorra\ because there stream from it long
beams of brightness, awhile on the one side, awhile on either side.

893. This year the mighty Host, whereof we spoke afore, came again
from the East Realm^ westward to Boulogne. And there were they shipped,
and so came over at one go, horses and all. And they came to land,
with 250 ships, at Lymne-mouth, a harbour in East Kent, at the east end
of that great weald which we call Andread. This weald is in length,
from east to west, 112 miles or more, and in breadth 30 miles. And the
aforesaid stream floweth out of the weald. Up this stream they towed
their ships as far as the weald, four miles from the harbour without ; and
there stormed they a stronghold, wherein were only a few men, and they
but churls, and it was moreover but half wrought.

Then, soon after, came Hasting, with 80 ships, to land at Thames-
mouth, and wrought him a stronghold at Milton. And the other Host
did the like at Appledore.

894. . . . Now the Northumbrians and the East Angles had plighted
sworn troth unto King Alfred, and the East Angles given six sureties
thereto. Nevertheless, so oft as these other Hosts raided forth in force,
then fared they forth also, clean against troth, either with them, or for
their own hand. Thereupon gathered King Alfred his muster, and went
onward till he was between the two Hosts, and there he camped (as near
as he might, for the wood fastnesses and the water fastnesses), so that,
should either come out into the open, he might with all speed be upon
them. Thence onward went out the foe by bands along the weald, on
whichever edge might be bare of force. iVnd almost every day (and
night) were they hunted down by other like bands, either of the King's

Austrasia, the land of the East Franks, between the Rhine and the Elbe.

128 Alfred in the Chroniclers

force or of the burghers'. His own muster had the King parted in twain,
so that the one part was ever at home, the other in the field ; besides
those men whose charge it was to ward the towns. Twice only did the
Host come out in full force from where they sat ; once at their first
landing, ere our muster was gathered, and again when they would forsake
their fastness.

Much spoil, then, had they taken, and would fain go into Essex unto
their ships, over Thames, northward. Then did the King's force outride
and get before them ; and at Farnham they fought with them, and put
the Host to flight, and took back the spoil. And they fled over Thames,
where was no ford, and so up the Colne into an island. Then our muster
there beset them so long as they had there any meat ; but at length they
outstayed their time [of service] and their meat was all eaten. By then
was the King on his way thither, and his own war-band with him, but,
even as he drew nigh, off went the other force home again. And the
Danish men abode there still, for their King was wounded in that fight,
so that they might not bear him ofl".

Then the Danes who dwell among the Northumbrians and among the
East Angles gathered some hundred ships, and went south about, and
some forty went north about.^ And these beset a stronghold by the sea
in North Devon, and the others, which went south, beset Exeter.

When the King heard that, then he turned him westward to Exeter,
and all his force with him, save one very strong band. Eastward went
on these till they came to London, and then did the townsmen and this
western aid make on eastward yet, even unto Beamfleet. Thither, by
then, was come Hasting, with his band which erewhile sat at Milton.
And thither also was come the great Host which at first sat at Appledore
by Lymne-mouth. The stronghold at Beamfleet had already been wrought
by Hasting, and he, as at that time, was out harrying, but the great Host
were at home.

Then came they thereto, and put to flight the Host, and stormed the
stronghold, and took all that was therein, the goods, and the women, and
eke the children, and brought all into London. And all the ships they
brake in pieces or else burned, or brought them into London or into
Rochester. And the wife of Hasting brought they to the King, and
his two sons ; and afterwards he gave them back, inasmuch as the one
was his own Godson, and the other Godson to Ethelred the Alderman.
They had stood their Godfathers ere Hasting came to Beamfleet, and
then had Hasting handed over to the King many sureties and sworn
many oaths, and the King had given him many gifts ; and so he gave
back his boys and his wife. But no sooner came he to Beamfleet, and
had wrought his stronghold, than he harried the King's lands, yea, those
very lands which were in ward of Ethelred his own ' compater.'^ And

1 This is still amongst coasters the technical sea term for rounding Scotland.
- The tie between sponsors and parents was held specially sacred. They were
called god-sib (akin in God)— the origin of o\xx gossip.

The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle 129

again the second time was he gone out to that self-same harrying when
his stronghold was stormed.

Now, as I said before, the King and his forces had turned westward to
Exeter, and the Host had beset the town ; but at his coming off they
went to their ships. And while the King was thus busy in the West,
then drew together both the other Hosts at Shoebury in Essex, and
wrought them there a stronghold, and then both together hied them up
along Thames. And many came there in to them, as well from the East
Angles as from the Northumbrians. So up the Thames went they, and
came even unto the Severn.

Then Ethelred the Alderman, and Ethelm the Alderman, and Ethelnoth
the Alderman, and the King's Thanes who were then at home in the
strongholds, gathered their men from every town from the Parret east-
ward (as well west as east of Selwood), and those north of Thames and
west of Severn, and some also of the North-Welsh folk. So they drew
them all together, and came up with the Host at Buttington on Severn,
in a fastness ; and there they beset them round on every side. Many
weeks sat they there, on either bank of the river, while the King was
westward, against the fleet, in Devon. Then were the foe straitened for
lack of food, and of their horses they had eaten the most part and the rest
were starved for hunger. Thus burst they forth upon them that beset the
stream eastward, and fought with them, and the Christians won the day.
And there were slain a many of the King's Thanes, and of the Danish
men was there a very great slaughter; and they who got off fled them
away.

So they that were left alive came again into Essex to their stronghold
and their ships. And once again ere winter gathered they a great host,
from the East Angles and from the Northumbrians ; and their wives,
and their ships, and their wealth, gave they into ward of the East Angles,
and hied them, at one stretch, day and night, to a waste^ Chester in
Wirrall, which hight Lega-ceaster [Chester]. Then might not our muster
come up with them ere they were within the stronghold ; yet beset they
the stronghold round about some two days, and took all the cattle there
without, and slew such as they might overtake outside the stronghold.
And all the corn in the neighbourhood did they burn, or ate it, they and
their horses, day by day." And this was about a twelvemonth since first
they came over sea hither.

895. Nor long was it ere, in this year, the Host went among the North
Welsh, out of Wirrall ; for there they might not abide, seeing they had
been spoiled both of the cattle and of the corn. Then turned they again
from North Wales, with the spoil they made there, and through
Northumberland they went and through East Anglia, and never might
our muster overtake them ere they came to the easternmost land of
Essex, to an island out at sea, hight Mersey.

1 The MSS. mostly read ivestre (' more westerly '). But lueste would seem to
be preferable. Florence renders it desertum. See p. 43.
- See note, p. 131.

9

130 Alfred in the Chroniclers

And the Host that had beset Exeter turned also homewards, and on
their way they would harry the South Saxons by Chichester. And the
townsfolk put them to flight, and slew them by hundreds, and took some
of their ships.

Then that same year, before winter, the Danish-men who sat down in
Mersey, towed their ships up the Thames, and thence up the Lea. This
was some two years since their coming in hither over sea.

896. This year the aforesaid Host wrought them a stronghold on the
Lea, twenty miles above London. And, in summer, a great body of the
townsmen, and other folk beside, went forth even unto this stronghold.
And there were they put to flight, and there were slain some four of the
King's Thanes. And, after, throughout harvest, did the King camp hard
by the town [London], while the folk were reaping, that the Danes might
not rob them of their crop.

Then one day the King rode along the stream, and saw where it might
be shut in, so that never might they bring out their ships. And thus
was it done, and they wrought them two strongholds on the two sides of
the stream. When this work was now begun, and the camp pitched
thereby, then saw the Host that they might not bring out their ships.
Then forsook they the ships, and away across the land till they came
unto Cwatbridge [Coatbridge, near Bridgenorth] on Severn, and there
wrought they a stronghold.

Then rode our muster westwards after the Host. And the men of
London took all those ships, and such as they might not bring away,
them they brake up, and such as were worth the taking, ^ them brought
they to London. Howbeit, the Danish-men had made over their wives
to the ward of the East Angles or ever they forsook their stronghold.

So sat they down for the winter at Bridgenorth. This was about three
years since hither they came over sea to Lymne-mouth.

897. This year, in the summer, the Host broke up ; some for East
Anglia, and some for Northumbria. And they who were moneyless
there took ship, and went southward over sea to the Seine.

Thanks be to God, the Host had not utterly broken down Angle-kin.
But much more in these three years was it broken by the cattle-death
and the death of men, and above all in that many of the highest among
the King's Thanes died in that three years.

■X- -x- * -x- #

This same year did they of the Host who were among the East Angles
and among the Northumbrians harass the West Saxons with bands of
spoilers, and mostly on the south coast, above all by their ' esks,' which
they had built many years before. Then bade King Alfred that long
ships be built against the esks ; and they were full-nigh twice as long ;
some had sixty oars, some more ; both swifter were they, and steadier,
and eke higher than the other. Neither like the Danish were they
shapen, nor the Frisian, but so as seemed him to be most worth.

^ Stcelwyrthe. This is the origin of our stalwart.

The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle 131

Then, in that same year, came there, upon a time, six ships unto the
Isle of Wight, and much harm they did there, and in Devon also, and
elsewhere on the sea-coast. Then bade the King nine of the new ships
to go thither ; and they blocked their way from the harbour to the sea
without. Then went they [the Danes] with three ships out against them,
and three lay aground in the upper harbour, and the men were ashore.
Then took they [the English] two of the three ships in the outer harbour,
and slew the ship-men. The other ship got away, though all the men
were slain save five only, and they got off because our ships ran aground.
They were aground, too, most unhappily, for three lay on that side of the
stream whereon lay the Danish ships aground, and the rest on the other
side, so that none might get to other.

So, when the water had ebbed away from the ships many a furlong,
then came out the Danes from their three ships against the three left on
their side by the ebb, and fought with them. And there were slain . . .
of all the men, Frisians and English, sixty and two ; and of the Danish-
men one hundred and twenty. Then came in the flood unto the Danish
ships ere the Christians could push off, so they rowed them out. Never-
theless, so sorely were they broken that they could not row round Sussex,
and there the sea cast two of them on shore. And the men were led
unto the King, to Winchester, and there bade he hang them. And they
in the one ship came unto East Anglia, sore wounded. And no fewer
than twenty ships were utterly lost with all hands, in that same summer
on the Sussex coast.

•X- -x- -jt -x- *

901. This year, six days before All-hallow-mass, Alfred, son of
Ethelwulf, died. King was he over all Angle-kin, save only that part
which was under the Danish sway ; and for thirty years, lacking one and
a half, held he the kingdom. And Edward his son reigned in his stead.

Note A. (p. 123).

The Danes at Cambridge.

It seems probable that a relic of the Danish occupation of Cambridge remains
to this day in the Saxon tower of St. Benet's Church, which is ascribed by
antiquaries to this period. The Danes, like the Normans after them, would seize
for themselves the ancient ' borough ' on Castle Hill ; and the English population
expelled to make room for them would begin that migration across the river which
has since transferred the town as a whole to the eastern bank.

Note B. (p. 129).

The words rendered ' day by day ' are in the original on cBlcere evenehthe. This
last word is clearly a corrupt reading, most probably for cefeniid ; which would
make the verbatim construe * at every eventide.'

9—2

III.

ETHELWERD,

THIRD in order amongst our authorities for the life
of Alfred comes the work of ' Patricius Consul
Fabius Quaestor Ethelwerdus,' who composed a
chronicle from the Creation to A.D. 975, and dedicated it
to his relative Matilda, like himself of the English blood-
royal. His prologue tells us that she was lineally descended
from Alfred, being the grand-daughter of the great Emperor
Otho, who married a daughter of Edward the Elder. He
adds that he himself was great-grandson to Ethelwald Clito,
the nephew who was set aside that Alfred might ascend the
throne. Matilda, who was the wife of Obizzo, Count of
Milan, died in lOii. It is therefore not improbable that
Ethelwerd is the noble of that name mentioned as having
fallen fighting by the side of his kinsman Edmund Ironside
in the terrible battle of Assingdon, a.d. 1016, which made
Canute King of England.

Ethelwerd writes in Latin of the vilest kind, and takes his
facts mostly from the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, but very in-
accurately, and with a few entries peculiar to himself. The
only ancient MS. of his work perished in the fire of 173 1,
along with so many other of the Cottonian Collection. It
was transcribed for Saville's ' Scriptores post Bedam ' (1596),
and has been re-edited by Petrie. This chronicle is divided
into books and chapters, the entries relating to Alfred being

Ethelwerd

133

found at the close of the third and the beginning of the
fourth book.

Ethelwerd, however, almost never gives a date, merely
referring to an ev^nt as so many years or months after such
another event, so that his chronology is apt to be confused,
His most valuable contribution to our period is his very
spirited account of the campaign of 894, which reads as if it
came out of some old ballad.

CONTENTS.

Book III., Chap. III.

Sec.

I.

Of Alfred at Rome.

j> >>

Sec.

2.

Of his father.

Book IV., Chap.

I.

Sec.

I.

Of the Danes in Kent.

Chap.

II.

, Sec.

I.

Of the Danes at York.

Sec,

2.

Of the Danes at Nottingham.

Sec.

3-

Of the Danes at Thetford.

Sec.

4-

Of the Danes at Reading.

Sec.

9-

How Alfred became King.

\ Chap."lII.

Sec.

I.

How the Danes left Wessex.

Sec.

2.

How they won Mercia.

Sec.

3-

How they took Cambridge.

Sec.

4-

How they took Exeter.

Sec.

6.

How they took Gloucester.

Sec.

7.

Of Athelney.

Sec.

9-

Of Ethandune and Wedmore.

Sec.

10.

How they fought at Thames-mouth

Sec.

14.

How Alfred built again London.

Sec.

18.

Of the Irish pilgrims.

Sec.

19.

Of the comet.

Sec.

20.

How the Danes came again in 893.

Sec.

21.

Of Edward the Etheling.

Sec.

22.

Of Buttington field.

Sec.

23-

Of the Danes at Lynn.

Sec.

24.

Of Alfred's death.

134 Alfred in the Chroniclers

ETHELWERD.

BOOK III.
Chapter 1 1 1.

Of the sivay of Athulf^ attd his deeds.

§ I. After the death of Egbert, came Athulf to his father's throne, and
gave to his son Ethelstan^ the realms of Kent and Essex and Surrey and
Sussex. . . . Also King Ethelwulf sent his son Alfred to Rome, in the
days of our Lord Pope Leo, who hallowed him to King, and stood his
Godfather, even as at this day we are wont to take little children at the
Bishop's hand and to call them our own. After Easter, in that year
[853], King Ethelwulf gave his daughter in marriage to King Burghred.

§ 2. Again, after a year, the heathen wintered in Sheppey. In the
same year [855] King Athulf gave a tenth of all that he had as the Lord's
lot, and the same wont set he throughout all his realm. This year went
he forth to Rome with great pomp, and there abode he twelve months.
At his home-coming to his own land, Charles, King of the Franks, gave
him his daughter in wedlock, and he brought her home with him [856].
King Athulf died one year after he came back [858], and his body resteth
in the city of Winchester. And then was fulfilled the fiftieth year since
King Egbert took the kingship.^

BOOK IV.
Chapter I .

Of the reigfis of the sons of King Athulf^ namely Ethelbald and

Ethelbyrht.

' Meanwhile, after the death of King Athulf, his sons sat on his throne,
to wit, Ethelbald over the West Angles* and Ethelbyrht over Kent, as
well as over the East, South, and Middle Angles.^ When five years were
fulfilled. King" Ethelbald died [860], and his brother Ethelbyrht took on
his power along with his own. In his days came there to land a mighty
heathen fleet, and wasted the royal city which is called Winton. Then
was their onset stayed by Osric, Chief of the province of Hamtun-shire,

^ I.e.^ Ethelwulf. The spelling throughout Ethelwerd's chronicle is exceed-
ingly lax.

2 Afterwards St. Neot ; see p. 17.

2 This entry is wrong ; Egbert became King in the year 800.

* I.e., Wessex.

° Essex, Sussex, Middlesex. It is noteworthy that Ethelwerd uses the word
* Angle ' as equivalent to * Saxon,' but never vice versd.

Ethelwerd 1 3 5

and Athulf, Chief of Berkshire. Followed a fight ; and these chieftains
put the heathen to flight and won the day. Then four years after the
death of Ethelbald the heathen make them a stronghold in the Isle of
Thanet [864], and plight their troth to the men of Kent to be at peace
with them, who on thfeir part make ready a fee boot, lacking wit to foresee
what should come. But the Danes break their troth, and stealing forth
privily by night lay waste all the Eastern coasts of Kent. Then after
one year King Ethelbald died [866], and his body lieth in peace in the
minster called Scireburne [Sherborne].

Chapter II.

Of the reign of King Ethelred.

vj I. Then did Ethelred follow in the kingship, after the death of his
brother Ethelbyrht. And in the same year [866] did the fleets of the
tyrant Igware reach the land of the Angles, and they wintered among
the East Angles. There they pile their arms, mount on horses, and make
peace with the folk. Then, after a year [867] , that host left the Eastern
shores, and crossed Humber, and went forward into the province of
Northumbria, as far as the city Evoraca, now called Eoferwic [York].
There chanced, at that time, to be a grievous civil discord among the
folk of that part ; for so mad were they that they drave from his rightful
seat their King Osbyrht ; and with fixed purpose of heart they one and
all choose some nameless churl for their King. Yet, after long tarrying,
they turn their mind to the need of taking up arms against the inrushing
foe. Each King collects no small force ; already do they mark the foe
at a halt within their dykes ; but, alas, they kindle in turn each other's
rage ; on both sides is there fell slaughter, and both Kings fall on the
spot. They who were left of either side now make peace with the
foemen's host.

^ ^ 'k H^ Hr

^ 2. Then, after another year [868], did the Heathen host, whose
coming we have just told, fix their camp at Nottingham and there
wintered ; and Burghed, King of Mercia, with his Witan, was fain to let
them stay there unhurt. But, at the year's end [869], this host removed
to York, and there did they again camp for the winter.

§ 3. After staying one year [870], they removed yet again, passed
through Mercia to the realm of the East Angles, and took up their abode
for the winter at Thetford. Against this host did King Edmund hold out
for a short space ; but they slew him there, and his body lieth buried at
a place called Beadorices-wyrthe. The barbarians indeed won the day,
but at the cost of their King's life, for I war died that same year. . . .

^ 4. In the course of the next year [871] the aforesaid host of the
barbarians marched on to Reading ; for this most impious crew were
keenly eager to attack the West Saxons. So that, within three days of

136 Alfred in the Chronicler's

their coming, their two chieftains were proudly prancing about on horse-
back, though naturally unskilled in the art of riding, and, forgetful of
their seamanship, went galloping over the fields and through the
woods. . . . But Ethelwulf the Alderman was a match for them.
Though small was his band, yet bare they brave hearts and hardy
breasts ; they aim their shafts, they turn the foe, they joy in abundant
spoil.

sj 5. At length, four days after this fight, cometh up King Ethelred with
his host ; nor may it be told what fight rageth, and how fiercely, between
them : first one side, then the other, presseth on with their spears in
unbroken order ; the noble Ethelwulf falls, who so late had the victory ;
and at the last the barbarians gain the mastery. The body of the afore-
named chief is carried off by stealth, and taken into the land of Mercia,
to a place called Northworthige, but in the Danish tongue Derby.

§ 6. Again, after four days, King Ethelred, with his brother Alfred,
met in arms with the whole heathen host at Aescesdune [Ashdown].
Fell was the slaughter on either hand, but King Ethelred at the last won
the palm of victory. . . . And, so to speak, all the best of the barbarian
youth fell there ; and never before nor since has such slaughter been
heard tell of throughout the whole time that Saxons have held Britain. . . .

§ 7. Yet, after fourteen days, was their courage renewed, and they
fought at a place called Basingon. Soon cross they swords ; little by
little the barbarians begin to hold their own ; each side hopes to win ;
the King's troops are cheated ; the cunning foemen hold the stronger
ground, and get them the victory, yet without its spoils.

^ 8. Once again, after two months, the aforesaid King Ethelred, with
his brother Alfred, renews the fight at Merton against the whole heathen
host, and many are there slain on either hand, and the barbarians gain
the palm of victory. . . . Lastly, in the year following the aforesaid
fight, after Easter, King Ethelred, from whose lineage I am sprung,
departed this life.

§ 9. And now, my beloved cousin Matilda, I will begin to set forth
my subject more clearly for you . . . and begin my tale with the sons
of.Athulf. There were five brothers ; the first was Ethelstan, who shared
the kingdom with his father ; the second was Ethelbald, King of the
West Angles ; the third Ethelbyrht, King of Kent ; the fourth Ethelred,
who was my grandfather's grandfather ; the fifth Alfred, who held the
whole sway after all the others, and he also was your grandfather's
grandfather. . . .

Chapter III.

Of the reign of King Alfred.

§ I. After these things Alfred gat the sway over all the lands of
Britain, when his brothers were dead, for he was the last of all the sons
of Athulf. A countless host came that summer to Reading, and eagerly

Ethelwcrd 137

set on the army of the West Angles ; and they who had been long raiding
the land thereabout came to their aid. The English army was as then
but small, seeing their King was away, for he was then at his brother's
burial ; but though their ranks were thin, yet was their courage firm
within them. Rejoicing in the fight they first drive their foes afar, but
at length, worn down with weariness, stay their hand from battle. The
barbarians thus win the victory, howbeit a barren one : afterwards they
spread themselves, and with stout threats of pillage plunder the country.

§ 2. During the time of their most hateful tyranny were three battles
fought by the Angles, besides those already told, and eleven of their
consuls, whom they call 'earls,' perished, and one of their Kings. At
last, in the same year, the West Angles make peace with them. And the
tale of the years passed to the sitting down of this barbarian host before
Reading, and to the death of King Ethelred and the kingship of his
brother Alfred, was from the time when their grandfather Ecgbyrht gat
the monarchy 71. And from the time when the war was between
Mercians and West Angles at the place called Ellandune, when King
Ecgbyrht gat him the victory,^ were passed 47 years ; and from the fight
at Pedredan^ 26, and from that in the wood of Aclea 20. And, lastly,
from the coming of the heathen to the land of the East Angles, 5 years.
And then, with no long stay, reach we their coming unto Reading.

§ 3. After the space of one year from their coming unto Reading [872],
they fixed their camp hard by the city of London. And the Mercians
make agreement with them and pay tribute. One year after [873], these
barbarians change their settlement to the neighbourhood of the city
Lindisse, in a place called Turccsige ; and the Mercians make a new
peace with them. Yet, after but one year [874], the barbarians shift
their leaguer to Repton, and drive King Burhred from his realm over
seas. The tale of years past since he took over his father's kingdom
was 22. Next they break the peace, and harry the Mercian land. The
aforesaid King cast not away his hope in Christ, but of set mind betook
him to Rome. And there he died, and his body, laid in a worthy
tomb, lieth in the temple of the Holy Mother of Christ, now com-
monly called the English School. Then did Ceolf hold the Mercian
realm.

§ 4.. Again, after another year [875], the barbarians divide the land
into two lots. Healfdene, their leader, took the one part, to wit, that of
the Northumbrians ; he chose for his winter-stead the neighbourhood of
the River Tyne, and all around laid he waste the land on every side.
And ofttimes harried they the Picts^ and the men of Cumberland.^

^ This was the decisive battle which freed Wessex from Mercia (Introduction,
11., §46). ,

^ At Puriton, near Parret-mouth, in 745.

^ The Picts dwell beyond the Forth, in Scotland ; their name became lost in
that of the Scots (originally immigrants from Ireland) in the eleventh century.

■* Cumberland was a British kingdom, extending at this time from the Clyde to
the Kibble. It was also called Strathclyde.

138 Alfred in the Chroniclers

Oscytel, however, and Guthrum, and Annuth, three of their Kmgs, with
a mighty host, shift them from Repton to a place called Grantan-bricge
[Cambridge], and there abide twelve months. Moreover, in the summer
of this same year, did King Alfred put to sea with his ship-force, and
there met him the barbarian fleet with seven tall vessels : followed there-
from a fight ; the Danes flee ; and one of their ships is taken by the
King. . . .

v^ 5. And in this year did the host from Cambridge join its force with
that of the western host, which never before had they done, near the town
called Wareham ; and they harried the most of that part. The King also
made a peace with them, and paid unto them tribute. They, in turn,
give him sureties, chosen men, such as seemed to their Kings the meetest
in the host ; and they make oath to him on their sacred arm-rings, which
to the Kings of other lands they had never done, that they would leave
his bounds with all speed. But they break the peace and eke their
troth ; and in the next year they enter the land of Devonshire, with a
vast band of warriors, and camp them for the winter at the city of
Exeter. Lastly do their fleets set sail and put to sea : but there arose a
mighty storm, so that no small part of them, namely 100 of their very
best ships, sank near a rock called Swanawic [Swanage]. The barbarians
now renew the peace, with intent to deceive, and more hostages gave
they than were asked for. For they sware to withdraw their force from
the lands of the illustrious King Alfred, and they did so.

§ 6. Harrying, then, the kingdom of Mercia, they drive out every
freeman, and after marching up and down the land, they set up their
abode at the town of Gloucester.^ Thus, ere the year was past [878], did
this vile crew break faith with the West Angles, though ratified by strong
oath. And they took up their winter-stead at Chippenham. But their
horse rode over the necks of much people, so that the folk there had no
place of refuge from their tyranny, and all hearts turned speedily against
them. Then, with overweening wickedness, drave they many over-sea to
the shores of Gaul.

§ 7. As for King Alfred, he was in truth at this time more straitened
than well became him. Ethelnoth also. Chief of the province of
Somerset, abode with a small band in a certain wood ; and they built
them a stronghold, after a sort, on the isle of Aethelingaige [Athelney],
which lieth, it seems, in a marsh. But the aforesaid King, along with
the whole province of Somerset, ceased not ever to meet in daily onsets
with the barbarians. Yet did none other help, save those who were fed
at the King's cost.

§ 8. In the same year came there Healfdene, brother of the tyrant
Igwar, with 30 keels, to the land of the West Angles, and they beset
Odda, chief leader of the province of Devon, in a certain stronghold, and
lighted up the fires of war both within and without. There fell the King

^ This attempt to form a Danish settlement in the Severn Valley is only told us
by Ethelwerd.

Ethelwerd 139

of the barbarians, and 80 decades with him ; and the Danes at last win
the field.

§ 9. Meanwhile, after Easter in that year, King Alfred hazarded a
battle against the host that lay at Chippenham, at a place called
Ethandune, and theirs *is the honour of the day. But, after this issue of
the day, the barbarians promise peace, beg for truce, refuse not sureties,
and bind themselves by oath. Their King, moreover, submitted him to
Baptism, and King Alfred, as Godfather, took him up from the font in the
marshy Isle of Athelney. Ethelnoth the Chieftain also purified the same
King after his Baptism, at a place called Wedmore, and there King Alfred
loaded him with splendid honours. Then, one year [879] from the day
that the' Heathen host had set forth from the city of Gloucester, came it
to the town of Cirencester, and there abode for the winter. In the course
of this year the sun was eclipsed. In the year following this eclipse
[8S0], the aforesaid host left Cirencester for the land of the East Angles ;
there pitched they camp, and brought beneath their sway the whole foll<
there. Fourteen years had now been fulfilled since the barbarians first
had wintered in the aforesaid lands, and therein had been horsed.

§ 10. Moreover, in the same year, after all the aforesaid land had been
brought under them, set they sail for Gaul, and set themselves down at a
place called Ghent, the self-same leaguer who had erst pitched their
camp at Fulham. After a year [881] they would go further, but the
armies of the Franks set on them so strongly that they win the day, and
the barbarians are put to flight. Yet a year [882] and the aforesaid host
passed into the upper lands of the River Maese, and set their camp at
Escelum. And, the next year [883], that same host set out for the lands
above the Scald, at a place called Cundath [CondeJ, and there pitched
their winter camp. One year after [884], befell there a grievous slaughter-
ing done by the aforesaid host in the upper lands of the Somme near the
town of Embenum [Amiens], and there camp they that winter.

§ II. Then, the next year [885], they divide, and spread over the land
in two bodies ; the one making for Lofenum [Louvain], and the other for
Rochester, and they sat down before both these towns, also making them
other smaller camps. The land-folk are worn down by loss, till King
Alfred comes up with the men of the West. Then this foul pest is at
length stamped out. They seek more strength ; the King bade ' Sarauara '^
to be led to the coast, with horses not a few ; they fall back to their
stronghold; some fly over sea. In this year they renew the peace,
giving sureties to the English, and twice in the year divide they the spoil
gotten by fraud, in the densely wooded parts hard by the southern bank
of the River Thames. The filthy crew, then holding under sway the East
Angles, find them food, and suddenly do they break out towards Beam-
fleet. There does their gathering break up, with ill omen : some stay,
some make off beyond the sea.

§ 12. Then in the same year, the aforesaid King Alfred sent a fleet to

^ This is hopelessly corrupt. Indeed, the whole passage teems with blunders.

1 40 Alfred in the Chroniclers

ihe coasts of the East Angles, and, even as they came in, there met them
sixteen ships at Stourmouth. These are taken, their captains slain with
the sword. Therewith beareth down the rest of the pirate fleet on that
of Alfred ; they ply their oars, they strike sail, their arms gUtter on the
aftrighted wave, and in the end the barbarians have the victory.

§ 13. In that same year did Charles the Younger follow on to the sway
of all western Gaul, even to the Tyrrhenian sea [the Mediterranean], and,
so to speak, to the whole empire of his great-grandfather [Charlemagne],
save only the land of Lidwicon [liritanny]. His father was Louis [the
German], brother of the midmost Charles [the Bald], whose daughter
Ethelwulf, King of the English, had wedded. And these two were sons
of Louis, and he was the son of Charlemagne, and he was the son of
Pepin. In the same year departed the blessed Pope Marinus, who freed
the English School, which to this day stands at Rome, by the foresight
of King Alfred ; and he sent him as gift a portion of the thrice-blessed
Cross of Christ, in Whom shineth forth the salvation of the world.

§ 14. In the same year also, the aforesaid noisome horde break their
troth, and make armed onset upon King Alfred. Then, one year later,
they seek the lower parts of Gaul, and settle down for good [in Normandy]
near the River Seine that winter. Meanwhile the city of London is
fortified by King Alfred, so that the rage of civil war could never again
bring it under, either by force or fraud. Him did all men hail as their
deliverer, the Saxons above all, save only the barbarians, and those who
beneath their sway were then held captive. And after the defences there
were well strengthened, the aforesaid King set over it Ethelred [Alderman
of Mercia] as the Warden thereof.

§ 15. Now \^'^']~\ the host which then was harrying Gaul cut its way
through the bridge of the stronghold of Paris, and wasted the whole land
of the Seine even unto the Marne, and upwards towards its source, as far
as Chdzy, and there thrice they wintered. . . .

[Here follows an account of the commotions on the Continent after the
death of Charles. See p. no.]

Moreover in the same year wherein the barbarians sat down against
the bridge at Paris, Ethelhelm the Alderman took no small part of the
alms from the diocese of the English, paid iby the King for his folk, and
therewith wended him to Rome. In ihe same year died Elswitha the
Queen [of Mercia, Alfred's sister].

§ 16. Then, in the next year after [890], the Abbot Byrnhelm took
unto Rome the alms for the people, and in especial those of the Western
Angles and of King Alfred. Then did Guthrum, King of the Northern
Angles, give up his soul to Orcus. He had taken the name of Ethelstan
at the laver of baptism from his Godfather King Alfred ; and his home
was mostly amongst the East Angles, since he had there first settled him.

§ 17. In the same year the aforesaid host came up from the River Seine
to a place called Sandlaudan [St. Lo], which lieth between the Bretons
and the Franks. Then did the Bretons meet them in open field, and

Ethclwerd 1 4 1

won the prize of victory, and pursued them along the windings of a certain
river, and not a few of them were drowned in the waters. Then one year
after [891] certain bands of the aforesaid host make way into the eastern
parts of P>ance. King Arnulf met them, and there was a horse fray ere
the fleet came up by water. Then came there in a body of East-Franks
and Saxons and Bavarians, and thereon did the heathen set sail and flee.

§ 18. In the same year three elect men of Hybernian race, drawn from
home by fervent faith, privily make them a boat, by sewing ox-hides
together, take with them a week's victual, sail on seven days and nights,
and are borne unto the coast of Cornwall. Here, leaving their boat (which
had been guided by no gear of theirs, nor by strength of arm, but rather
by the will of Him Who ruleth all things), they reach King Alfred, who,
with his Witan, rejoiceth at their coming. Next bend they their steps to
Rome, as the teachers of Christ are oftenest wont to do, and thence their
heart moveth them to seek Jerusalem. At length the chiefest among
them departeth in the way, and one of the brethren finds himself left in
charge of the relics of this dear comrade ; (and also many miracles were
wrought, the whole of which may not be told in this short tale). For the
third, shaking off" the dust from his feet, cometh back home, and reports
the names of the exiles thus : — first Dufslan, next Macheathath, third
Magilmumen, a man learned in the Arts, skilled in Letters, and a noted
teacher among the Irish.

§ 19. Also in the same year, after Easter, during the Rogation Week,
there shone forth a comet ; which some think to signify that a rough time
is now passed away ; but the more approved interpretation of the wise
seemeth to be that comets foretell things to come, as hath been shown by
manifold experience.

§ 20. Then one year from the time when the barbarians waged war
against King Arnulf they come to Bononia [Boulogne], and there build
them a fleet, set sail, and come over into England, and pass in their ships
up the mouth of the River Limne to Poldre [Appledore] in East Kent.
And there do they overthrow an ancient stronghold, for there was but a
small band of churls therein ; and there fix they their winter-stead. Also
in this year Hassten comesin with no small fleet to the banks of the River
Thames, and they make them a stronghold at a place called Middletune
[Milton], on the coast of Kent, and there pitch they camp for the winter.
Then the number of the years from the glorious Nativity^ of our Saviour
amounted to D.CCC.XC.III.

§ 21. After the Easter of that year the host come in from Gaul set forth,
and marched through the depths of the mighty forest commonly called
Andredeswood^ ; and they join hands with the East Angles, and so on step
by step, to harry the neighbouring lands of Hamtun -scire and Bearruc-

^ The reckoning of the Christian Year from Christmas Day, instead of Lady
Day, is found in writers of this period. It was convenient as making the new
year begin approximately with the Civil Year, which in Imperial Rome, as now,
commenced January i. See p. 120. This is tiie only date Ethel werd gives.

^ The Weald of Sussex.

142 Alf^'ed in the Chroniclers

scire. Then were these things told to Eadward the Etheling, son of
King Alfred, then at his work among the South Angles.^ Next meet
they the West Angles, who with stout threats and full muster forlet them
at Farnham. Without stop or stay the Saxon youth leap on the foe,
being cheered by the coming of their Prince. With glad heart do they
spring to arms. Like sheep under ward of their shepherd they delight in
their wonted spoil. There is the tyrant wounded ; with joy they drive
his squalid hordes northward over Thames. The while the Danes are
beleaguered in Thornige- Island, King Ethelred [of Mercia] aided the
Prince, sallying forth from the city of London. The barbarians pray
peace-troth, sureties are given, they undertake wholly to forsake the
realm of the King aforesaid^ ; and at once fulfil their words in very
deed. In the end they set forth for the land of the East Angles, and
then what was left of the host was in the realm of Edmund, King erewhile,
and Saint. And their ships, with a furthering breeze, fly round to them
from the mouth of the Limne to Mersey, a place in Kent.'*

§ 22. In this same year Hiissten breaks out with his savage host from
Beamfleet, and cruelly harries the whole land of Mercia, until they come
even to the marches of Britain [z>,, the Welsh border]. The host which
was then in the East, and eke that of the Northumbrians, find them in
all they need. Then hard upon them followeth the far-famed chieftain,
Athelm, with all his horsemen ; and yet another leader, Ethelnoth,
presseth on their rear with the men of the West Angles. There cometh
up also King Ethelred, Lord of the Mercians, and dasheth himself eagerly
upon them. Both sides join in battle ; the youth on either part mingle
in the fray ; the English at last win the field. These mighty deeds, as
old writers tell, happened at Buttingtune [on the Severn]. Yea, more-
over, and the utmost efforts of the Danes are found all too weak : once
more they make peace, they refuse not sureties, they pledge them to
leave those parts. And in the same year the Danish stronghold in Beam-
fleet is broken up by the strength and goodwill of the folk thereabout,
and the wealth therein they part among them.

§ 23. After this, Sigeferth, a pirate, coasteth along Northumbria with a
fleet of adventurers, and twice doth he harry that coast, and then bendeth
his course to his own settlements. And after two full years came a mighty
fleet from Boulogne and reached Limne, a town of the Angles. Then set
forth the noble Ethelnoth from the West, and sallied out from the city of
York against the foe, who wasted no small tract in the land of Mercia, to
the west of Stamford ; that is between the bank of the Welland and the
thick wood commonly called Ceoftefne [Charnwood]. And, one year
after, died Guthfrid, King of the Northumbrians, on the birthday of
Sr. Bartholomew, the Apostle of Christ, and his body lieth buried at York,

1 Sussex being part of his appanage, as heir-apparent. :X|

2 This island was at the mouth of the Colne (Asser). See p. 128. 'I

3 I.e., Ethelred, who though only called Alderman was practically under-King
of Mercia. See p. 109.

■* Really in Essex.

Ethelwerd 143

in the chief church there. Yet four years after (from the death of the
aforesaid King), there arose great and perilous feud among the Angles,
for that in Northumbria the foul Danish force abode still.

§ 24. Finally, in the self-same year, the great-hearted Alfred, King of
the Saxons, departed from this world : — the steadfast stay of the West
Saxons, full of justice, bold in arms, learned of speech, and, beyond all
else, filled with lore divine. He had turned into his own tongue from the
Latin, with skill of word, an untold number of volumes, of most varied
contents ; and in such surpassing wise that not only to the learned, but
even to the casual hearer, the sad book of Boethius seemeth in some sort
to live again.

This King died on the seventh day before the Feast of All Saints, and
his body resteth in peace in the city of Winchester. O my reader, pray
thou thus :

' Christ, Redeemer, save his soul.'

Note, § 23.

This paragraph reads at first sight as a confused repetition of § 20, the South-
Saxon river Limne being mistaken for the East Anglian town Lynn, in Norfolk.
But it is possible that Ethelwerd's information (though not in any other writer)
may be founded on historical fact. The Danes, who had fled to France (p. 130)
may well have tried one more landing at Lynn, and raided thereabout. Nor is it
even impossible (strange as it seems) that Ethelnoth, the Alderman of Somerset,
may really have been at York about this time. We know that he was at Butting-
ton in North Wales (§ 22), and that the English forces thence pursued the Danes
into Northumbria (p. 129).

IV.
SIMEON OF DURHAM.

* THE DEEDS OF THE KINGS OF ENGLAND.'

SIMEON of Durham, the most picturesque of all our
authorities for this period, wrote early in the
twelfth century, his history ending in 1129. It is
chiefly derived from earlier writers, the Anglo - Saxon
Chronicle, Asser, etc., but frequently contains traces of some
independent poetical source. The spirit-stirring account of
the Battle of Ashdown (§§ 23-31) in particular bears every
mark of being founded on an old war-song, such as Macaulay
has elaborated from the pages of Livy in the days of Rome.

Simeon gives a double recension of this portion of his
history. The following translation is from the first, with the
leading additional touches found in the second, which are but
few in number.

Only one MS. of the work is known, that in the Library
of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge (No. cxxxix.), 'which
dates from the twelfth century. It has been printed by
Twysden in his * Decern Scriptores,' and (as far as 978) by
Petrie and Hardy in their ' Monumenta Britannica.' Trans-
lations have been published in Bohn's Historical Series and
in * The Church Historians of England.'

Simeon of Diirhani

H5

CONTENTS.

SECTION

I. Of Alfred's birth and of his parent-
age.

3. Of the fight at Ockley.

4. Of Alfred at Rome.

5. Of King Ethehvulf.

8. Of King Ethelbald.

9. Of King Ethelbert.

11. Of King Ethelred

Danes came into East Anglia.

12. Of Alfred in childhood.

14. Of the Danes at York.

15. Of Alfred's wedding.

16. Of the Danes at Nottingham.

18. Of the Danes in Northumbria.

19. How Alfred came of age.

20. How the Danes won East Anglia.

21. How they came into Wessex.

22. Of the fight at Englefield.

23. Of the fight at Reading.

24. Of the fight at Ashdown.

32. Of the fight at Basing ; and of the

death of Ethelred.

33. How Alfred was King ; and of the

fight at Wilton.

34. How the Danes won Mercia.

36.
37-

and how the 38.

39-
42.

45-
46.

47-
48.

49-
50-
5^-
52.
53-
54-

55-
58.

59-

How the Danes won Northumber-
land and Cambridge ; and how
Rollo came to Normandy.

Of the Danes at Wareham and
Exeter.

How the Danes overran Wessex ;.
and of Alfred's distress.

Of the fight in Devon ; and how
the English rose.

Of the fight at Ethandune.

How Guthrum was christened ; nnd;
how the Danes broke up.

Of Alfred's sea-fighting.

Of the Danes at Rochester.

Of the sea-fighting in Stourmouth.

Of Pope Marinus.

Of the children of Alfred.

Of his Bishops.

Of the Danes at Paris,

How Alfred built again London.

Of his troubles.

Of his Abbeys.

Of his almsgivings.

Of his death.

Of John Scotus.

10

146 Alfred in the Chronicler's

SIMEON OF DURHAM.

^ I. In the year of our Lord's Incarnation 849, there sprang up a light
out of darkness. Then was born in the town royal, called by the English
Wantage, Alfred, King of the English. . . .

[Here Simeon gives a long pedigree of Alfred through forty-two
descents, up to Adam, dwelling specially on the greatness of Ina, King
of Wessex, six generations back.]

§ 2. The mother of King Alfred was named Osburga, a woman deeply
devout, and thereto keen of wit withal, great of heart, as high in place ;
and her father hight Oslac, the true and trusty cup-bearer of King
Ethelwulf. . . .

[Here follows Oslac's pedigree, from Asser, § 4.]

^ 3. In the year 851 (the third of Alfred's age) . . . came there a
mighty host of Heathen with 350 ships, to Thames mouth. Then sacked
they Dorobernia [Canterbury] . . . and, growing ever bolder, gathered
all their force in Suthrige [Surrey]. Then did Ethelwulf, the warrior
King of the West Saxons, along with his son Ethelbald, likewise get
them together no small army, in the place men call Aclea [Ockley], that
is, The Oak-Plain. There were seen, in bright and clashing armour, the
flower of English folk ; and long was the fight between the Danes and
the English, who fought the more hardily for seeing their King bear
himself so well in fight, and thus showed themselves better men than
their foes. Manfully did they strive, for long and long ; and bravely and
stoutly was the fray kept up by both sides. And the most part of the
Heathen horde was utterly overthrown and put to rout, so that never, in
any land, either before or since, have so many in one day met their
death. Thus, that selfsame day, did the Christians win a glorious
victory ; and held the battle-stead ; with hymns and praises giving thanks
to God. . . .

[Here follows the fight at Sandwich, from Asser, § 7.]

§ 4. In 853 (the fifth year of Alfred's age) . . , King Ethel>vulf sent
his, son Alfred to Rome, and many a noble knight with him. And the
blessed Pope Leo [the IVth] held the Apostolic See as at that time.
He, then, hallowed the aforesaid child to King, by anointing ; and re-
ceiving him for his own child by adoption, gave him Confirmation, and
sent him back to his own land and to his father, with the blessing of
St. Peter the Apostle. . . .

[Here follows the fight in Thanet, from Asser, § 10.]

§ 5. In this year, too, did King Ethelwulf . . . give his daughter to
I^urghred, King of the Mercians. . . . Whereupon, being duly wed, gat
she the place and name of Queen. . . .

^ 6. In 8:515 (the seventh year of the age of the King aforesaid), the
Heathen host wintered in the Island of Sheppey. And at that time did
King Ethelwulf tithe the whole land, and freed the tenth part thereof

f

Simeon of Du7'ha7n 147

from all royal service and tribute, and hallowed the same for ever, by
deed of gift on the Cross of Christ, to God the Three in One, for the
salvation of his soul and eke the souls of his forefathers. And in this
year he went with great worship unto the Threshold of the Apostles, and
with him he took hi§ son Alfred, inasmuch as he loved him beyond all
the rest. There did the Apostolic man greet him with all honour ; and
he stayed one whole year, diligently taken up with almsdeeds and with
prayer. Yet at his home-coming was his son Ethelbald sore vexed, and
it grieved him to the heart. Yea, and Ealhstan, Bishop of Sherborne,
and many a man more.

>^ 7. The most gracious King Ethelwulf lived two years after taking
this journey to the Roman see. Amongst his other good deeds in this
present life, he both took heed to his kingly duties and forethought as to
his own departure ; and, that his sons might not quarrel at his death, he
wrote a writing (and full eloquently was it worded), wherein he set forth
whatsoever by right pertained to each. He bade, for himself and all his
successors, that throughout the whole of his land, among every ten dwell-
ings \_mans/s], one poor person, either of inland folk or outland, should
for ever be maintained with meat, drink, and clothing. Moreover, for
the salvation of his soul, he likewise bade send unto Rome 300 man-
cuses '} 100 to the church of St. Peter, specially to buy oil to fill all the
lamps of that church on Easter Eve, and eke at the Cock Crow ; 100 for
the honour of St. Paul ; and 100 to the Universal Apostolic Pope.

§ 8. Thereafter, at the death of this glorious King Ethelwulf, did his
son Ethelbald, against the bode of Jesus Christ and all Christian teach-
ing, yea, and against all heathen wont likewise, take in marriage, to his
own great shame, Judith, the daughter of Charles, King of the Franks,
his father's wife. And after his noble father's death, he ruled, without
let, for two years and a half, the realm of the West Saxons.

§ 9. In the year 860 (the twelfth of the age of the illustrious Etheling
Alfred), Ethelbald died, and was buried at Sherborne. The world being
thus rid of him, his brother Ethelbyrht joined unto his kingdom Kent
and Surrey and also Sussex, as was meet and right for to do. In his
reign came there by sea a mighty Heathen host, and stormed and spoiled
the city of Winchester. But as the aforesaid host was wending back
with no small booty, unto their ships, Osric, the most noble chieftain of
the Hampshire men, came upon them with his folk. Also the far-famed
Alderman Ethelwulf, with the men of Berkshire, met them bravely with
no small muster. And when they joined battle, the heathen were every-
where hewn down by the Angles, through the aid of the Angels. And
these deadly foes might no longer stand, by reason of their wounds; and
there fell of them a very great multitude, and full shamefully withal. For

^ A marginal note in the MS. here tells us that a mancus was worth 30 pence,
which is confirmed by the statute of Henry I., xxxv. i. * 20 mane, quae facient
50S.' ( = 600 pence). The word is of Saracen origin, being the participle of the
Arabic verb nakasha^ coin. A gold mancus weighed 66 grains.

10 — 2

148 Alfj'ed in the Chroniclers

some hid them in coverts of thick brambles, and some, like so many
women, tied away. And the English had the luck that day ; and theirs
was the battle-stead.

>i 10. So then did King Ethelbyrht, for five years, bear rule over the

land trusted unto him, in peace, and in mildness, and in all worship ;

and so went he the way of all flesh ; and great grief wa's it to his nobles,

and his bishops, and all his whole folk. So left he his earthly kingdom,

and became partaker of a better. Beside his brother was he buried at

Sherborne ; where he waiteth the comfort of the resurrection to be. . . .

[Here follows the Danish treachery in Kent, from Asser, § 23.]

v^ II. In the year 866 (the i8th of Alfred's age), Ethelred, brother of

Ethelbyrht, King of the West Saxons, took the helm of the kingdom.

In the same year a mighty fleet of heathen from Danube \i.e.^ Denmark]

came in upon the parts of Britain ; and so wintered in the realm of the

eastern English, which is called in the Saxon tongue Eastengle. And

there was this countless host horsed, and rode and trampled hither and

thither, taking very much spoil, and sparing neither man nor woman,

widow nor maiden.

s; 12. In these days began Alfred the Etheling, through earnest pains-
taking, to be imbued with divine lore. From his very cradle was he
loved with wondrous affection by his father and mother, beyond all his
brethren. As he grew in stature, in the days of his youth, so showed he
fairer in form than any one of them : bright was his face, so that all men
marked it, and bright his talk. Like as the hart desireth the waterbrooks,
so longed he that his inmost heart and mind should be fulfilled with
sound learning. This noble boy, our destined King, strove also day and
night to learn the Saxon songs. Full teachable was he, keen also at
woodcraft, peerless in skill everyway. . . .

[Here follows the tale of Alfred's learning to read, from Asser, § 27.]
§ 13. Afterwards, kindled by longing for the Love of God, devoutly
learnt he many psalms, and the Daily Course, that is, the celebration of
the Hours ; and having gathered these into one volume, he bare them
ever in his bosom, both by night and day. O happy man ! O wise
King ! Thou liftest that which lifteth thee ; thou bearest the keys of
knowledge ; wisdom thou lovest, and wise shalt thou be ; executing
judgment and justice in the earth. . . .

§ 14. In 867 . . . the aforesaid host . . . came even unto York. . . . And, as
then, had the Northumbrians driven out their rightful King, Osbert, and
set over them a tyrant, one Ella. When therefore came in these Heathen
that strife was stayed . . . and Osbert and Ella joined forces . . . and came
unto York. Away fled the shipmen in a moment, and the Christians
found themselves the better men. Then fought they, like madmen, with
one another, and both those Kings fell. And they that were left made
them peace with the Danes.

§ 15. In his twentieth year (a.d. 868), did the worshipful King Alfred,
then holding rank as second ruler of the kingdom, take him a wife from

Simeon of Dii7^hain 149

Mercia, of noble kin, the daughter of Ethelred, Earl of the Gaini, who
was called by the English ' Muckle,' through being great in stature and
lofty in wisdom. This year was there a comet, most plain to behold.

i^ 16. At that lime, the aforesaid Heathen host left the Northumbrians
and came, with all dreadfulness, to Nottingham, which in the British
tongue is called Tigguocabauc, but in Latin Spelimcarum\ domtcs [the
House of Caves]. And there did these false guests abide that winter ;
and their coming was unpleasing enough to the landfolk, each and all.
Then the mighty King of the Mercians, Burghred by name, and all his
nobles, hearing of their coming, took counsel with his thanes and war-
men, and all the folk under him, how they might best, by strong hand,
bring under their foes, or drive them from the kingdom. Then sent
he messengers, with all speed, to Alfred, far-famed in fight, and to
Ethelred his brother, beseeching that they would help him with
brotherly aid ; which thing they, like lions stout of heart, shrank not
to do. For Alfred, thus stirred up, bade gather full hastily his host.
For he bare in mind the saw :

* The rich man who's sure,
And bemoans, that he's poor,
Will ne'er be a doer.'

[Nunquam dives agit
Qui trepidus gemens
Sese credit egentem.]

A man, that is to say, however strong, can no way fulfil his wishes, if he
be fearful and think himself poor, that is, in evil case. But by manfully
striving may he carry out all his mind.

§ 17. His brother being fired with like zeal, they came unto Notting-
ham, ready to face the fray. And the Heathen, trusting to the walls of
the fortress, offer battle, form their line, and draw out no small host. Yet
feared they ; for they saw the Christian folk, in their tens, their hundreds,
and their thousands, standing firm against the foe, even as their devoted
leaders would have them. And, at length, by the goodness of the Lord
Almighty, the blasting of the breath of His displeasure ceased : the hearts
of the wicked were brought low ; they ask of the Christians truce and
treaty. It was as if men besought the grace and mercy of Christ in this
wise :

' Ruler of the wave storm-driven,

Let thy peace which reigns through Heaven

Likewise unto earth be given.'

[Rapides Rector comprime fluctus
Et quo coelum regis imniensum
Firma stabiles foedere terras.]

So peace was made between the Kings and the Heathen ; and either
went their way, even as sheep parted off from goats.

§ 18. In the year 869, the 21st of Alfred's age, the above-mentioned
host went again to Northumbria. And there abode they a whole year,

150 Alf7'ed in the Chro7iiclers

storming and raging, wasting and slaying, and that both men and women,
without number.

>j 19. But in the following year, when the sunlight brightened the whole
round of the world, ^ and the year 870 of our Lord's Incarnation had come,
then shone forth the day wherein King Alfred fulfilled twenty-one years.

si 20. A hideous horde of Danes — troops, so to speak, of legions — this
year gathered them together, so that there seemed thousands on thousands
by tale, as if they had grown from 1000 to twenty myriads. Thereafter
came they through Mercia to East Anglia, and wintered at Thetford
without fear. Then was King Edmund over all those realms . . . and
well and manfully did he fight against that host . . . So died he a glorious
death, . . . and entered, by the martyr's crown, into bliss eternal. . . .

§ 21. In the year 871, the twenty-second of the age of Alfred, the
glorious King of the Saxons, that Heathen host, of hateful memory, left
the East Angles and invaded the kingdom of the West Saxons, coming
to the town-royal named Reading, on the south bank of the Thames, in
that district which is called by the country-folk Berkshire. On the third
day of the coming in of these foes of the English, their earls, with a great
band, swept the riverside, and harried many a mile. Some of them,
moreover, were fain to raise a dyke between the rivers Thames and
Kennet. but this purpose and work of the Danes was brought to nought ;
the English coming to the rescue.

§ 22. For while these raiders were at their mischief, and toiling therein
like men, came there upon them Ethelwulf, chief of the land of Berkshire,
a man keen in deed, girt in threefold mail, and his troops in hundreds with
him \cwn sitis agininibus ce7ituriatus\. Seeing, then, the multitude of
the barbarians, this prince of the Christian folk spake unto them that
followed him and said : ' Many is that host : yet fear you not thereof.
Though in shield-wall against us it be the mightier, yet stronger still is
our Captain, Christ.' Then did the Christians, trusting in the aid of
Christ's dear Name, set on ; and they met the Danes in a place called
Englafield, where the aforesaid chieftain formed up his chosen troops,
and bade them stand firm against the foe. And there was fought a hard-
fought fight, and much folk on either side fell wounded, and much folk
was there slain. There fell one of the Danish princes, and of his men
no small number, and the rest were full fain to flee. And the Christians
won them the palm of victory, and held there the battle-stead.

§ 23. After this hap, twice two days later, did King Ethelred, in his
might, and his brother Alfred, having raised their full muster, with royal
power and valour, come to Reading ; choosing either to live with honour
in their realm, or, for Christ's sake, to fall in battle. And even as this
valiant King, with his beloved brother, hewing down their foes, front and
rear, had cut their way to the very gates of the stronghold, the Heathen,
on their part, made a desperate rally, fighting like wolves ; and there was
a very grievous slaughter. And alas ! sad to say, the foes of the English,

^ I.e., at the vernal equinox.

Sivieon of Durham 1 5 [

on that day, won the field. And Ethelwulf of Berkshire, of late so lion-
like in fight, there fell, with many another faithful soldier and servant of
Jesus Christ.

>; 24. Roused by this woe and shame, the Angles besought them aid of
the Angels, that they would bring them help, through the might of God.
Then, after yet four days, they march their host against the aforesaid
loemen, they gird on their arm?, and take their post in the place called
Etscesdun ; which may in sooth be rendered in the Latin tongue Mons
Fraxini\^\s\i Down]. Thither did these chiefs of fame, so valiant in fight,
go up with all their war-men, eager for the fray.

v^ 25. The Danes eke, with no small war-craft, parted themselves into
two bands, and made ready to quit them like men in battle. They also
had two Kings, and many Chieftains ; and, like wary fighters, they gave
one half of their host to the two Kings, and the other half to all the Chief-
tains together. Seeing this, the English likewise formed two divisions ;
and made themselves engines of war and the bulwarks thereof \jnachinas
et machinatJwrum propagfiucld\ .

^ 26. Then was King Alfred first ready ; and set on with his troops.
For full well did he know that the day would be won, not by the multitude
of an host, but by the mercy and. loving-kindness of our God. King
Ethelred, the while, was in his tent, at his prayers; devoutly hearing
Mass, and assisting at Divine Service. For full soothly did he say, once
and again, that never would he leave till the priest had done all that Mass,
nor, for any respect of man, turn away from the service of God. And
much did these Holy Mysteries profit the King and all the Christian folk ;
as will be shown in what here followeth.

§ 27. The Christian and English folk, then, minded, with devotion,
bravely to meet in batlle with their foes after this sort ; that King Ethelred,
that bravest of princes, should, with his myriads, match him against their
legions ; that is, one King of the English against the two Danish Kings ;
and that King Alfred, with his chiefs and war-men, captains and people,
should try the hap of war against all the Chiefs of the Heathen, Thus
had it seemed best, and thus was it most pleasing to both Kings alike,
and eke to the people. Such were the counsels fore-ordained on either
side.

^ 28. Now as King Ethelred tarried long in prayer, and the Heathen
came full fast into the field, all ready for hard fighting, Alfred, though, as
then, but second in command, could bear it no longer. Needs must he
try either to break that foeman's line in battle, or to fall. With sudden
start, sprang he up in his valour, and rushed on, brave as a wild-boar,
charging the dense throng of Danes with the hallowed host of his English.
Then came on also the King, sheathed in armour and in prayer, and, in
the Name of the Great King of all the earth, dashed into the combat.
Then took he also knowledge of the host of his brother, how skilfully it
was handled, as though the warrior Judas [Maccab^eus] had gone forth
to battle. For trusting in the counsel of God, and aided by His strength,

152 Alfred in the Chroniclers

in good order had he drawn up his shield-wall,^ and advanced his banners
against the foe.

si 29. Uneven was the chance : for the heathen had seized the higher
ground, and the Christians were fain to charge upward from below. Yet
manful and fair was the tight, on both sides alike, though the one were
workers of wickedness, while the other fought for life and friends and
fatherland ; and in that field fell there one thousand one hundred and
fifty men. And they that there died for their fatherland and their laws,
were borne, as is meet to believe, to the land of endless bliss : but the
others given over to him of whom it is said : ' He is the well-head of all
wtrighteousness.^ Yea, and the Kings, in good sooth, not only by word
exhorted their folk to stand fast, but, in very warlike deed, themselves
hewed down and brake the foe.

vj 30. And, in the end, did the Danes, when they saw their shield- wall
and line pierced through and through, lose heart, grow shaken, begin to
quake, and, at the last, were stricken with mighty fear. For the panic
was from God, and struck them to the heart ; so that they might bear up
no longer, and meet the onset of the English no more. To flight they
took, and that ignobly, dropping their swords, owning themselves worsted,
holding out their right hands, and beseeching quarter. And our Kings,
stretching forth their swords, hardly so kept their warrior-folk back.
Every way did that craven rabble flee, and all day long did our English-
men hunt them down.

vj 31. On that day, were many thousands cut to pieces, yea, over the
whole breadth of the field of Ashdown ; and the Kings, beholding that
slaughter, gave great glory to God, Who had that day given unto them
so triumphant a victory. There, moreover, fell King Bergsecg, and with
him . . . Sidroc the chieftain, old in arms (of whom may be said the
saw; That ancient of ill days). . . . Sidroc the younger, and Osbern,
who led the host on, and Frena the chieftain, and Harold the chieftain,
and all their men with them. Theirs was the broad and easy way; and
down into the pit went they. 7Viejy knew not the way of knowledge^ neither
imderstood they the paths thereof: it was put far from their face [Baruch
iii. 20]. Thus ended this glorious battle; and the Kings, and all folk
alike with them, were filled with joy unbounded, in that the Danes had
fled and the English had there stood fast.

§ 32. Yet, after fourteen days, did the most excellent King Ethelred,
forgetful that a year of jubilee should be one also of forgiveness, call up
again his muster, with the trusty aid of his brother. . . . And again the
English and Danes met in battle [at Basing] ; and full stern was the fight
and desperate. And almost, yea altogether, won the Danes that field. And,
in that same year, King Ethelred, full of years, and fulfilled of all good,
»passed into the bliss hereafter, and the kingdom which hath no end, with
the King of all worlds, in the Land of the Living.

1 Testudine ordinabiliter- condensata. 'Shield-wall' was the reguhr Anglo-
Saxon phrase for line of battle.

Simeon of Durhani 153

>;■ ^■}i. The aforesaid King being taken from this world, Alfred, his
brother, was presently chosen by the Lords and Bishops of the whole
land, and was besought, not by them only, but by the land-folk one and
all, that he would reign over them, ' to be avenged of the heathen and to
rebuke the people.^ So he gat him the rule over the whole nation, and
ever was he foremost in valour, and ever victor in war, with fortune to
friend, and Christ to comrade. Well 'skilled was he in Saxon song, ever
zealous in God's service, and full keenly did he look into the whole
ministration of justice. Against him did the aforesaid host fight with
fury, one month after his reign began, at the hill called Wilton ; and
finding how rough was the English hand-play, and how weak their own,
turned their backs and fled away. But, alas ! emboldened by the rashness
of the pursuers they turned them once again to fight, and won the victor's
prize, and held the death-stead. And no wonder ; for the Christians had
but small force thereat. For they were worn out by eight battles in one
year. And in this year did the Saxons make truce with those same
Heathen, on troth that they should leave them.

^ 34. In the year 872, the twenty-fourth of Alfred's age, came the afore-
said Heathen host to London, and there wintered ; and the Mercians
made peace with them. And [the next year] leaving London, they
marched to the land of the Northumbrians, and there wintered ; and the
Mercians yet again made peace with them. And [the next year] they
wintered at Hripadun [Repton], and drave out Burghred, Kmg of the
Mercians, from his realm, and forced him off to Rome, in the twenty-
second year of his reign. Nor, after reaching Rome, lived he long in this
world, but departed to Him Who is the True Life, and was buried worship-
fully in the church of the Holy and ever-Virgin Mary, Mother of our Lord
Jesus Christ, where he awaited His Second Advent, when of His bounty
He will both dispense due rewards to the righteous and dreadful punish-
ment to the wicked. The Danes moreover, after his driving-out, brought
the Mercian realm under their own sway. To a certain plebeian warrior
named Ceolwulf did they grant it, on this troth, that whensoever they
would, they should have it again, without guile and without hurt.

§ 35. In the year 875, the twenty-sixth [27th] of Alfred's age, the afore-
said host left Repton and was parted into two bands. The one went with
Halfdene to the land of the Northumbrians, and raided therein, and
wintered near the river called Tyne, and brought that whole folk under
their sway, and harried also the Picts and the Stretcludenses [Strathclyde].
(Then it wus that Bishop Eardulf and Abbot Eadred, taking up the body
of St. Cuthbert from Lindisfarne, wandered about with that treasure for
nine years, fleeing from place to place before the face of the barbarians.)
And the other part of the host went with Guthrum and Oscytel and
Amund, Kings of the heathen, to the place called Grantabric [Cambridge],
and there wintered. As for King Alfred, he made him ready for sea-
fighting, and met six ships upon the sea. Setting on them with good
courage, he took one, and the rest, in fear fled away. And Rollo, first

T^r "•''^

154 Alfred in the Chroniclers

Duke of the Normans, also called Rodberr, entered into Normandy on
the XV. Kal. Dec. [November 17].

§ 36. In 876 (the twenty-seventh [28th] year of Alfred's life) the afore-
said host stealing away by night from Cambridge made entry into the
fortress named Wareham. And the Saxon King, forewarned of this
sudden inroad, made truce with them, taking hostages, on troth-plight
that they should depart the kingdom. But they, after their wont, regard-
ing neither hostage nor oath, one night brake their troth, and made a
flank march to Exeter, which is called in British Cairivisc, in Latin Civitas
Aquariiui.

§ yj. In the year Zy'j, the twenty-seventh [29th] of Alfred's age, that
shameless host left Exeter, and went to the town royal of Chippenham,
and there wintered. And now did King Alfred undergo many a suffering,
and a weary life led he. At length, emboldened by St. Cuthbert ... he
won the victory ; and ever after was feared and unconquered by his foes.
. . . How he overcame them is now to be recorded.

§ 38. In that same year the Kings Inguar and Halfdene, with 23 ships,
pouring out, like fierce wolves, from the land of Demetia [South Wales]
(where they had wintered, with much slaughter of Christians and burning
of minsters), sailed over to Devon. And there were they slain, both of
them, and 1200 men with them, by the brave thanes of King Alfred,
before the fortress of Cynwith. . . . And King Alfred, trusting in the
Lord God, wrought him a stronghold, along with a few troops, at a place
called Athelney. This held he with his men, and often and tirelessly
vexed they the foe from this stronghold. This he did at the season of the
Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. And seven weeks and one day
(that is, 50 days), after, came he unto Egbert's Stone, on the east border
of the forest called in the English tongue Mucel Wudu^ in Latin Silva
Magna, and in British Coiimaur. There did all the folk of Somerset,
and Wiltshire, and Hampshire, meet their dear-loved King. And, at
sight of him, they rejoiced with joy of heart untold, as for one raised from
the dead.

v; 39. So came he, the third day after, with a mighty host, to the place
called Ethandun [Edington] ; whereat, hard by, he found no less
mighty forces of the Heathen, drawn up in one dense mass for battle.
With the first bright rays of the rising sun did the King alike and all the
flower of his folk beclothe themselves in their war-gear, with the three-
fold breastplate, to wit, of Faith, and of Hope, and of the Love of God.
Arising thereafter from the ground, boldly did they challenge the combat,
trusting full surely in the Mercy and Lovingkindness of the Creator, and
safeguarded, as with a rampart, by the presence of their King, whose
face shone even then with light, as it had been the face of an angel.

^' 40. All the long day did the two nations fight ; and far off might you
hear ihe shouting and the crash of arms. And He Who in His Might
beholdeth all things, beheld also the inmost wish of His King on earth,
and granted him his heart's desire, the prayers and the aid of the Powers

Simeon of Diirhavi 155

of Heaven. Thus at length laid he low his foes, and gat him the victory,
giving thanks to his Heavenly Saviour with joy of heart.

§ 41. Then did the King and his hosts stand by, all smiling with joy
of heart. But the remnant of the foe cried ever aloud, for sorrow of
heart, and for bitter hunger, and for cold, and for mighty dread. Mercy
do they implore, mercy, mercy and peace — they who had ever been
enemies unto peace, of direst mood. Sureties they proffer ; troth-plight
would they swear. Then, at hearing all this with his outward ears, the
King was moved with compassion inwardly in his heart, and he granted
all their prayer.

§ 42. Also their King, Guthrum by name, avowed that he would fain
become -a Christian, and, under the hand of our most religious and
gracious King, was he taken to the cleansing of Baptism, in kingly wise.
For the King of the Saxons himself took this Guthrum for his own son
by adoption, at his washing in the laver of Salvation. And thirty other,
chosen men, were also with him. After he was baptized he stayed for
twelve nights with his spiritual father right worshipfully ; and he, for his
part, bestowed on him, and on all them who received the Christian faith,
gifts great and manifold.

§ 43. In the year 879 (the twenty-eighth [31st] of King Alfred's age),
the aforesaid Heathen host brake up, according to their troth, from Chip-
penham, and went to Cirencester (which is in the British tongue
Cairceri) ; and there stayed they one whole year. Also, in that year,
came a mighty host of heathen from over-seas into the river Thames,
and, joining them with the aforesaid body, they banded together, as is
the wont of the wicked. And that same year was there an eclipse,
between the ninth hour and the evening.

§ 44. In 880 (the twenty-ninth [32nd] of Alfred's age); the oft-mentioned
Heathen host left Cirencester, and went to the East Angles, and, sharing
amongst them that land, there took up their abode. The heathen who
had wintered at Fulham forsook Britain, and went on to pay France a
visit ; and a grievous visitation was it. . . .

[Here follow their doings abroad, from Asser, § 67.]

§ 45. In 882, the thirty-first [34] of the age of the Glorious Alfred . . .
that best of captains girt him for sea-fight, and met the Heathen fleet
upon the wave. And he, at sea victorious as on land, won, with stout
courage, two from out their ships, and all on board were slaughtered to
a man. And for this victory did that high Prince render due thanks
unto His Name Who gives Salvation. Now the next hap must we tell.
Thereafter of two ships he wounded sore the captains, and their ship-
mates, one and all ; who, laying down their arms, in helpless wise, with
many a bended knee and suppliant prayer, gave themselves up to our
great King, so long as any spark of life should burn in them.^ . . .

Cuthbert, from a slave, was made King [of Bernicia] ; and at Cunke-
ceastre [Chester-le-Street] was the Bishopric once more set up.

^ This seems to be from some ballad, and falls almost spontaneously into rhythm.
- See Roger of Wendover, § 13.

156 Alfred in the ChroJiiclers

I 46. In 884 (the thirty-third [36th] of the age of the most illustrious
King Alfred), that host, whereof the very name is loathsome, parted
itself into two bands. The one went into East France '} the other . . .
to the place called Rochester in Kent. Before the gate thereof did the
Heathen throw up an earth-work. Yet could they not take the city ; for
the townsmen bravely withstood them, until King Alfred, the shield of
the whole realm, came upon them with no small force. And even as
he drew near with all speed, so quickly did the Danes, fear-stricken, seek
safety on ship-board ; leaving their earthwork, and all the horses brought
with them from France, and all the French captives they had taken.

§ 47. And at that time, in the same year, did this hero King send his
fleet, all full of warmen, from Kent to the East Angles. And when they
drew nigh unto the mouth of the river Stour, suddenly there met them
13 Heathen ships, all ready for battle. Fierce was the fight on both
sides ; and the Heathen were wholly beaten, and all their ships taken,
and all the treasure therein. Nevertheless, such of the Danes as could
make good their flight, gathered ships, as best they might, on all hands,
and came down in fighting trim upon the English, who were now sunk
in slumber. So, unready and unarmed, they were slain in crowds ; and
well may we say of such the old saw : ' Who should look out ^ full fast
shuts oft his eye. . . .'

[Here follow the foreign events of Asser, ^^ 71.]

§ 48. At that time, Pope Marinus, of most sacred memory, went the
way of all flesh, yielding up his soul to Him that gave it. He freed the
Saxon School, in the city of Rome, from all tribute, out of loving regard
to the most gracious King Alfred. Also he sent him many gifts ;
amongst which he gave him a fragment of the most blessed Cross,
whereon our Lord Jesus Chiist hung for the salvation of all mankind.

§ 49. There were born unto the King both sons and daughters, and
fair enough they were, and lovely to behold. Here be their names
emblazoned \deflorat(.i\ :

(gf^efffeb (gf^efsifu (gafffarib.

The King's son Eadward and his sister Ealfthrid [Elfrida] were always
brought up in the King's court, with great care, and teachers had they,
both of men and women ; yea, and they learnt by heart many a psalm,
and many a Saxon book, and many a lay. Ethelward, the younger
brother, was ever, in letters and exercises, the first amongst the sons of
warriors, whether nobles or commoners. Ethelfled, their sister, was
joined in wedlock to Eadred [Ethelred], Prince of the Mercians. Their
sister Ethelgyfu [ElgivaJ was set under rule in monastic life.

§ 50. At this time Archbishop Plegmund, so faithful and so famous,
ruled the Church of Christ ; a reverend man, bright with the fruits of
Wisdom, built up on the Four Pillars, namely, Justice, Prudence,
Temperance, and Fortitude. At the same time the throne of the little

^ The country of the East Franks, between the Rhine and the Elbe.

Sh7ieon of Ditrharn 157

see of Worcester was honoured by the rule of Warfrid, with his deep
devotion and his power of mind. He it was who, by the command and
urgent wish of the King, turned Gregory's Book of Dialogues into the
Saxon tongue ; oftentimes most elegantly giving sense for sense. And
the King also bade the famous priests, Athelstan and Werwulf, to come
to him from Mercia, seeing they were more soothly and fully skilled in
the knowledge of Divine Law. Such as these did he specially love and
w orship, and by their teaching and learning was this Pacific King glorified
above all the Kings of the earth.

§ 51. In the year 886 (the thirty-fifih [38th] of the age of Alfred the
Glorious) the unspeakable Danish host . . . came to the city of Pari<^,
and wintered thereby, and cut down the bridge, that the townsfolk might
not pass thereon. Nevertheless, God granting His very present help,
and the townsfolk themselves withstanding them bravely, they could not
break through the walls of the city.^

§ 52. And at that same time the King of the English right royally
restored the great city of London, that men might once more dwell
therein, after the many burnings of the town and the many massacres of
the townsfolk ; and he gave it over to the ward of Ethelred, the Chief of
the Mercians. And all, both Angles and Saxons, who erstwhile had
been everywhere scattered amongst the Heathen, so many as were freed
from bondage, bent to him as their Lord. And he, of his own gracious
mood, gave unto all his fatherly good will. . . .

[Here follow the foreign events of Asser, ^^ 103.]

v^ 53. Many were his tribulations and afflictions in this world ; but
firm stood his kingly power. . . . How he widened the bounds of his
kingdom, how he built up the walls of cities, how he made strong the
ramparts of fortresses broken down, how he set them up where of old
were none, — who is of wit to declare it all 1 What lips can praise it,
what tongue tell it out .'' Yea, moreover, and how he enriched holy
places with royal gifts and adornments "i Full oft was he vexed at the
heart with the princes, and the captains [pe?itecontarchos\ and the whole
perverse generation, because they would not follow after him in the
purposes on which ho was bent. Yet, all alone, strove he, by the help of
God Almighty, like a skilful steersman, so to sway the helm, as to bring
his ship — his own glorious and living soul — into the harbour and the
calm and the peace of Paradise. Often and often was he wont to repeat
to himself by heart these lines :

* Whoso would ever
In quiet sit fast,
Bent by no buffet
Of blustering blast,'

and what followeth.^

^ It was at this siege that Paris was saved by the devoted courage of the
peasant rnaiden, St. Genevieve.

^ Et infra. As the first quotation docs not complete a sentence, these words
probably are equivalent to our, ' etc'

158 Alfred in the Chroniclers

' Though ruin on ruin
Be heaped through the world,
Though on by the wild wind
The billows be hurled,
Thou, stablished in quiet,
Thou, happy and strong,
Shalt smile at the tempest
Through all thy life long.'^

vj 54. The same King founded a very fair monastery in the place called
Athelney ; and hard by, on its western bound, a very strong fortress was
set up by the command and means of the said King. In this community
he gathered from all quarters monks of divers race, and set them down
therein. Another monastery founded he hard by the east gate of the
city called Shaftesbury, well suited for the abode of holy women \sancti-
i;ioniaIiin?i\ wherein he placed as Abbess his daughter Elgiva, a maiden
dedicated to God. To both monasteries he granted such store of gifts
and possessions as should suffice them for food and clothing all their life
long.

^ 55. These things which we have told being firmly and wholly ful-
filled, the far-famed King Alfred, after his wont, began to turn over in
his secret heart \inentis thalamunil that which is written in the Divine
Scriptures : If {saith he) thou rigJitly offerest^ a?id iinrightly dividest^
thou hast sinned. Also thoroughly did he lay to heart and dwell upon
that which Solomon, the wisest of kings, saith : '■Surely the heart of the
King is in the hand of the Almighty ' [Prov. xxi. i].

§ 56. Turning over these things in himself with inward searching of
hearc, this heavenly minded monarch brought forth plenteously the fruit
of good works, for a sweet-smelling savour. At the holy solemnities of
the Festivals, what boons he bestowed on his bishops and chieftains and
knights, none may declare. Then did the poor leap for gladness, then
were widows and orphans full of joy ; and heartfelt praises they gave
him. Full well he knew that saying of the Teacher \_Scolastici^^ — ' Theit
is money of true worthy when it has been handed over to others. A tins -

^ This is one of the metres of Boethius :

' Quisquis volet perennem

Cautus ponere sedem

Stabilisque, nee sonori

Sterni flatibus Euri '

* * * *

' Quum tenet ruinis

Hujus sa-culi status

Miscens Kquora ventus

Tu, conditus quieti,

Felix robore valli,

Duces serenus sevum,

Ridens Ktheris iras.'

Alfred translates this poem in his Boethius, but so vaguely that it is difficult to
say which of his lines correspond to these.

Simeon of Dtu^/iam 1 59

^^ving is the end of ownership. ^^ Finally he look upon him not only to
admonish his bishops, bright as they were with heavenly radiance, that
they should correct the faults of the people, and chide and check all
vulgar foolishness. Not only, I say, did he admonish the pastors of his
people ; but his princes, eke, and his most beloved servants, did he teach
that with all their wit should they ever set forward the common weal of
the whole realm.

§ 57. His revenue parted he into three shares, after this sort. The
first share of his income gave he, year by year, to his warriors ; the
second to the workmen, whom he had gathered from many nations ; the
third to the strangers who from all parts came unto him ; knowing full
well that ' God loveth a cheerful giver. ^ Truly, however, was he set
among the thorns of many and manifold troubles ; howbeit enthroned,
under God, in royal power. . . .

[Here follow the events of the years 888 onwards, abbreviated from the
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle.]

§ 58. In the year 899, Alfred, King of the West Saxons, son of the
most pious King Ethelwulf, having completed 29 years and six months
of his reign, died on the 5th of the Kalends of November [October 28] in
the 4th Indiction ; and at Winton [Winchester], in the New Monastery,
was he buried.

And in his stead reigned his son Edward, surnamed the Elder ; in
letters and in culture below his father, but in honour, and in power, and
in glory no less, above him.

§ 59. In the days of this King Alfred there came to England John
Scot, a man clear of head and ready of speech. He had some time
before left his own and land gone over to France, to Charles the Bald. . . .
He was a man of no little humour and free-witted withal, of which
examples are to this day on record. For instance, he was one day sitting
at meat over against the King, on the other side of the table. The cups
were going round, and the dishes removed. Then Charles, with a gay
face, when, after some other talk, he spied John doing something offensive
to French politeness, courteously chid him, saying, ' Come, what is there
now, between a sot and a Scot.'" Gravely did he return the joke upon
its author and answered, 'This table only.' What could be wittier.'* . . .

§ 60. At the request of Charles he turned the Hierarchia of Dionysius
the Areopagite from Greek into Latin, word for word ; whence it comes
to pass that the Latin can scarce be understood, seeing that it is con-
strued rather with Greek volubility than with our order.^ He also com-
posed a book which he entitled ' Periphysion Merimnoi [irepi (pvaeivu
/xepLa/xov], that is, Of the Division of Nature, useful enough for solving

^ ' Tunc est preciosa pecunia cum translata fuerit in alios. Largiendi usu
desinit possideri.'

^ ' Volubilitate magis Graeca quam positione construitur nostra.'

i6o Alfred m the Chroniclers

the difficulty of certain questions, if only he be pardoned in some points,
wlierein he has swerved from the Latin track, by too keen an eye for the
(ireek. Wherefore he was thought a heretic, and . . . Pope Nicholas is
known to have shared this view. P^or in a letter to Charles he says : ' It
has been reported to Our Apostleship, that one of your friends, John, a
Scot by birth, has lately translated into Latin a work of the Blessed
Dionysius the Areopagite, which he wrote in Greek, concerning the
Divine Titles {^Xonn/ici] or Celestial Orders. Which work ought, according
to custom, to be sent to Us, and to be approved by Our judgment ; more
especially as this same John, though declared to be a man of much
learning, is said, by common report, to have at one time held unsound
opinions on certain points.'

§ 6i. Through this evil report he wearied of France, and came \o
King Alfred. And attracted by his munificence, and at his appointment,,
as is known by the King's writ, he settled at Meldun [Malmesbury].
There, after some years, he lost his life, pierced by the steel pens of the
boys whom he taught : a most cruel death. . . . Long lay he in an un-
honoured grave in the Church of S». Lawrence, which had witnessed his
hideous murder. But the favour of God for many nights shed over him
a light of fire, and the monks, at this warning, translated him into their
larger church, and laid him on the left side of the altar.

Note A.

This tale of John Scotus is found in the second redaction of Simeon's Hii-tory,
under the year 884. I suspect it, however, to be an insertion by some later hand.
The story of the murder is particularly suspicious, identical as it is with that of the
martyrdom of the tutor of St. Pancras, in the Diocletian persecution. At that
date steel pens were actually in use (for writing on wax tablets), but this method
was unknown in Alfred's day.

Note B (p. 159).

The Indictiofi.

This was a fifteen-year Cycle, said to have been ordained by Constantine, be
ginning probably with A. i). 313, the date of his establishment as Emperor.
Calculations by this method are, however, very uncertain, as not only are the
claims of both 312 and 314 to be the opening year advocated by sundrv authorities,
but further confusion is introduced by the Roman Indiction beginning December 25
or January 1, while that used in England and France began September 24.

V.
WILLIAM OF MALMESBURY.

DEEDS OF THE ENGLISH KINGS.

THIS great historian, the librarian and precentor of the
Abbey of Malmesbury, wrote early in the twelfth
century. Many MSS. of his works exist, four at
least being of his own day. The standard edition is that of
Mr. Duffus Hardy (1840), and translations have been made
by Mr. Sharpe (1815) and in 'The Church Historians of
England' (1854).

The sections of his 'Deeds of the Kings ' (which, for our
period, is founded on Asser, the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, and
the Chronicle of St. Neot's) here translated are :

108. Of King Ethelwulf and his

Bishops.

109. Of his going to Rome, and of his

marriage.
113. Of Ethelbald his son.
115. Of his pedigree.

1 19. Of the fight at Ashdown.

121. Of Alfred in war.

122. Of Alfred in peace, of his Laws,

of his ' Hundreds,' of his
Indian Mission.

123. Of his writings.

II

1 62 Alfred in the Chroniclers

V/ILLIAM OF MALMESBURY.

§ io8. In A.D. 837 Ethelwulf (whom some call Athulf), son of Egbert,
came to the throne, and reigned twenty years and five months. Mild of
mood was he, and far fainer to live in quiet than to bear wide sway ;
thus, in the end, he was content with Wessex, his father's own realm,
and gave over all else he [Egbert] had won to his son Athelstan ;^ of
whom we know not when or how he died. He aided Burghred, King of
the Mercians, against the Britons ; — yea, and honoured him with his
daughter's hand in wedlock. Full oft did he and his chieftains worst
the piratic Danes, who were overrunning the land and vexing the coast
with sudden raids; though, as the fortune of war is, he too underwent
many a disaster, London being laid waste and almost all Kent likewise.
Yet were these inroads ever checked by the King's counsellors, who suffered
not the foe to raid unpunished, but, by their common counsel, wreaked
on them full vengeance. For the King, as at that time, had two most
excellent bishops, the Blessed Swithun^ of Winchester and Alstan of
Sherborne. These two, seeing the King to be a dullard born and thick-
headed \crassioris et hebetis ingemi\ stirred him up by many an oft-
repeated monition to learn his king-craft. Swithun, who loved not the
world, neither the things of the world, ever warned him to seek those things
that be above. Alstan, knowing that the earthly weal of the realm must
not be neglected, ever cheered him against the Danes, himself finding
money for the cost, and training the army.

§ 109. Trusting, then, in these two . . . Ethelwulf, having first got the
better of his foes, turned him next to the setting up of God's worship, and
granted the tenth of every hide of land in his realm to the ministers of
Christ, free from all tribute and custom. He went also to Rome, and
there offered to St. Peter that tribute that England payeth even to this
day, before Pope Leo IV., who had also, erewhile, received with honour,
and anointed King, Alfred his son, whom Ethelwulf had sent to him.
Abiding there one whole year, he worshipfully repaired the English
School,' which, as men say, was first founded by Offa, King of the
Mercians, and burnt down some time back.^ Coming home through
France, he wedded Judith, daughter of Charles, King of the Franks. . . .
[Here follow (from the Chronicle of St. Neot's) details as to the ancestry
of this King, and a long account of a vision wherein he saw their suffer-
ings in Purgatory.]

•^ •}(■ * * -x-

§ 113. On his return . . . Ethelbald his son, and Alstan, Bishop of

^ See Introduction, p. 17.

■^ St. Swithun had been Ethelwulf s tutor in boyhood, and is traditionally said to
have been Alfred's also. He became Bishop of Winchester 838, in succession, as
some authorities tell, to Ethelwulf himself, and died 862.

^ See p. 79.

William of Malniesbury 163

Sherborne, conspired against him, and would fain have cast him from
the kingship. Howbeit less hasty rede was taken, and the kingdom was
shared between father and son. Unjustly too was it shared, for their
malice so far prevailed that the western half, which was the better, went
to the son, while the eastern, and worse, fell to the father. He, however,
with forbearance beyond belief, and dreading ' a worse than civil war,'
peacefully gave way to his son — yea, and kept back, by mild speech, the
folk who were gathered to stand up for his right. And though all this
quarrel arose through his outland wife, yet held he her ever highly, and was
fain to set her on the throne beside him, against West Saxon wont. . . .

[Here follows the story of Edburga (Asser, §§17, 18).]

■X- * -x- * -Jf

He bade that, till the end of time, one poor man should be clothed and
fed from every hide of his inheritance, and that year by year there should
be sent to Rome 300 mancas of gold, whereof 100 should be for St. Peter,
100 to St. Paul, for lamps, and 100 to the Pope, for alms-giving. Two
years after he came back from Rome he died, and was buried at Win-
chester in the cathedral. . . .

[Here follows EthelwulPs charter for compulsory tithe-giving.]
•X- -x- -x- -x- -x-

§ 115. From this King the English Chronicles trace the line of their
Kings even up to Adam (as we know that Luke the Evangelist has done
for our Lord Jesus Christ). And perhaps it may not be too much, if I
do it ; though I fear the sound of barbarous names may shock un-
accustomed ears. . . .

[The pedigree of Ethelwulf is accordingly traced through twelve
generations to 'Cherdic, first King of the West Saxons.' Nine more
bring us to the Teutonic deity Woden, ' from whom came the Kings of
many nations' ; and yet another nine to * Sceaf, who, as some say, was
driven on to a certain island in Germany called Scanza [Scandinavia],
of which Jornandes, the historian of the Goths, telleth, — a little boy, all
alone in a skiff, and at his head a sheaf of corn (whence he was named
Sceaf). At this strange sight, the landsfolk there made him welcome,
and gave him good up-bringing. And, in riper years, he reigned in
Sleswick, which is now called Haitheby. That land, the old Anglia,
whence the English came into Britain, lieth between the Saxons and the
Goths.' This personage was great-great-grandson to ' Streph, the son of
Noah, born in the Ark.'

The incest, reign, and death of Ethelbald are given as in Asser,
followed by a panegyric on his successor Ethelred, and the nine battles of
871 (Asser, §§ 21-24, 33-36).]

•X- ^ ^ -x- -K-

^ 119. One fight, memorable beyond all, was at Ashdown [Escendun].
There gathered the Danes, . . . and Ethelred with his brother Alfred
came upon them. With earliest dawn was Alfred at his post ; but his
.brother abode yet in his tent, fixed in prayer. Nay, when tidings came

II — 2

164 Alfred in the Chroniclers

that the Heathen were even now making their wild onset, * not one step,*
said he, 'will I stir till the service is ended.' And greatly did this piety
profit his brother, who, with the overboldness of youth, was already far
forward in the field. For the English ranks were all but giving way, and
nigh unto flight, inasmuch as the enemy charged down upon them from
higher ground, when the King, with the Cross of God for his banner,
struck in, and scattered the foe. . . .

[Here follows the Danish conquest of East Anglia, Mercia and
Northumbria, and the death of Ethelred (Asser, § 46).]

■)«■ -x- -x- -x- -^

^ 121. In the year of our Lord's Incarnation 872, Alfred, the youngest
son of Ethelwulf, who had before received from Pope Leo IV. at Rome
the kingly unction and crown, came unto the throne, and held it, with
mighty toil and mightier valour, for 28 and a half years. To follow up
the mazy labyrinth of his labours purposed I never, for to trace out all
his deeds in their exact order would but confuse my readers. To tell
how the fof.man's host, driven by him and his chiefs from one part, went
off to anoiher, and, when dislodged thence, sought some fresh spot, filling
every place with rapine and slaughter, and to follow him, so to speak,
round the whole island, would, it seemeth me, be the height of folly.
Therefore I shall but touch on it all summarily.

For nine years on end fought he on . . . and, at last, was brought to
such utter distress . . . that he must needs hide away in a certain island
called Athelney [Adelingia]. . . . Afterwards, in happier times, was he
wont to tell, in lively and pleasant wise, of his perils there, and how, by
the merits of St. Cuthbert, he escaped. For it mostly happens that men
recollect with gladness that case which once they most dreaded. . . .

[Here follows the story told on p. 31, and that of Alfred's visit to the
Danish camp disguised as a minstrel (both from the Chronicle of
St. Neot's). The decisive defeat of the invaders is next told, and the
division of England between Alfred and Guthrum, traces of which were
still evident in the days of our author. East Anglia and Northumbria,
he tells us, though brought again beneath the English sway, 'reluctantly
admit-one common King of England, as we see at this very day.' When
he wrote the rising of the North against the Conqueror, and the long
resistance of Ely, were still fresh in men's minds. After this we read of
the Danish doings on the Continent, and their return to England in 893.
(from the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle).]

^ ^ ^ ^ ^

After England for 14 years had enjoyed peace and quiet . . . then
came back that pest of Northern barbarians, and war and slaughter with
them. Plots, too, there arose amongst the Northumbrians and amongst
the East Anglians. But neither did the outlanders nor the landsfolk
meet the same hap as in bygone years. The first, weakened by their
fights beyond sea, were less ready in their raiding, and the last, now well-
taught in war-craft . . . were more forward to withstand them, yea, and to

Williain of Malniesbitry 165

attack them also. The King himself, ready as ever, was everywhere in
every need ; daunting the invaders, and encouraging his own folk by his
well-seen boldness and valour. All alone would he throw himself upon
the foe ; — yea, with his own right hand and his own arm would he rally his
forces when they gave way. To this day do the land-folk show the very
spots where his luck was worst, and fortune least his friend. But with
Alfred one must needs fight even after he was down ; so that, when he
might be thought wholly overthrown,

' Yet, like a slippery snake, would he 'scape from the hand-grip that held him,'

glide from his lurking-den, and, boldly as ever, spring on the mocking
foe. When he had been put to flight, then was he the most to be dreaded ;
for defeat did but teach him caution, and make him the bolder to seek
vengeance. . . .

[Alfred's children are here enumerated, and his ill-health touched upon.]
■X- -x- ■«■ -St -x-

§ 122. Yet, after all, it is his less conspicuous life that is worthy of the
greatest praise and wonder. For though, as men say, ' Inter anna silent
leges,' yet did he, amid the din of war, draw up a Law-code whereby his
folk might at once be well-taught both in worship and in war-craft. And
since, from the example of the barbarians, the land-folk themselves began
to lust after rapine, insomuch that without a guard no man might safely
travel, he fixed Centuries, which they call Hiiiidreds^ and Decennaries,
which they call Tythings, so that every Englishman must, by law, belong
to both. [See Introduction, XII., § 14,] If any were charged with a
crime, he must at once find folk from his Hundred and Tything to
become surety for him ; and whosoever might not find such surety, on
him the law was hard. If any, when charged, fled him away (either
before or after fimding surety), his whole Hundred and Tything paid
forfeit to the King. . . .

Many gifts sent he over sea to Rome, and even to St. Thomas in India.
Sigelin, Bishop of Sherborne, was sent on that errand, and reached India
with all prosperity, at which men marvel even unto this day. When he
came back, he brought with him many a strange and brilliant jewel, and
of the aromatic juice [? sugar] wherein that land aboundeth. He brought
back, too, a gift, more precious than any gold — a bit of the Saviour's Cross,
sent by Pope Marinus to the King. . . .

[Here follows the list of Alfred's monasteries, and the roll of his
literary friends, Grimbald, Asser, John Erigena, etc.]

"k "k 'k ^ =k

§ 123. With these helpers, the King gave his whole soul to Culture and
to the Liberal Arts. Never was Enghshman quicker in understanding or
moie elegant in translating. . . . Much did he turn into English out of
Roman authors, thus bearing away for the good of his own folk the very
choicest spoils of other lands. His chief publications were : Orosius,
Gregory's Pastoral Care, Bedt's History of the Angles, Boethius on the

1 66 Alfred in the Chroniclers

Consolation of Philosophy, and his own book, which he called in the
vernacular, Hand-Book. . . . When he died he had just begun a
translation of the Psalter. . . .

[Here Alfred's lantern is referred to, and his system of almsgiving
(from Asser ; see pp. 115-118).]

H! =tc He ^ ^

He had one unheard of custom ; that he ever bare in his bosom a
book wherein were set down the Daily Psalms, ^ in due order, that he
might carefully recite them, if ever leisure served him.

In this way he passed his life, revered by all . . . and when he paid
the debt of nature was buried at Winchester, in the Abbey which he
there founded.

[Here, in the best MSS., follows the magnificent encomium upon
Alfred also found in Florence of Worcester (see p. 176).]

^ According to the Breviary, the entire Psalter is recited weekly, and several
Psalms (including the 11 8th [119th]) daily.

VI.

HENRY OF HUNTINGDON.

* HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH.'

THIS writer was Archdeacon of Huntingdon in the
early part of the twelfth century. His ' History of
the English ' begins with Julius Caesar, and ends
II 54. He is one of the most spirited of our writers, and
though his entries for Alfred's reign are almost all from
Asser, yet every here and there he inserts some interesting
little bit of independent information, and gives his own colour
to many of the incidents he records. These variations from
his authority will be found in the following extracts :

CONTENTS.

SECTION

I. Of the Danish inroads.

4. Of the fight at Ockley.

7. Of King Ethelbald.

8. Of King Ethelbert.

9. Of Ingwar and Hubba.

SECTION

11. Of St. Edmund.

12. Of the Danes in Wessex.

15. Of the Vikings in Stourmouth.

16. How Alfred built again London.

17. How Alfred died.

i68 Alfred in the Chroniclers

HENRY OF HUNTINGDON.

BOOK V.

vj I. In the beginning of this work I said that with a fivefold scourge
had Britain been chastised. And of the fourth, that, to wit, wielded by
the Danes, I now set me to tell in this Book. For this chastisement in-
deed was both longer and far harder than the rest.

vi 2. For the Romans in brief space brought Britain beneath their sway,
and right well did they rule their conquest. The Picts and Scots, again,
often indeed harried the North, but their raids went not beyond those
parts, nor ever did any very grievous harm. The Saxons, in turn, as they
grew in strength, so, little by little, gat hold of the land by force of arms,
and settled therein, and made them laws and statutes. As for the
Normans, suddenly and quickly conquered they this island, and granted
unto the conquered life and liberty, with all just rights, and the old laws
of the realm.

§ 3. But the Danes by inroad after inroad overran the land: not to
settle came they, but to spoil, to harry rather than to conquer. And if
anywhere they were worsted it was of no avail, for then would they raid
some other spot, with a larger fleet and a stronger force. Wonder was it
how when the English Kings were hasting to meet them in the East, ere
they could come up with their bands a breathless scout would run in,
saying, ' Sir King, whither marchest thou ? The heathen have landed in
the South, a countless fleet. Towns and hamlets are in flames, fire and
slaughter are on every side.' Yea, and that very day another would come
running : ' Sir King, why withdrawest thou ? A fearsome host has come
to shore in the West. If ye face them not speedily, they will hold that ye
flee, and will be on your rear with fire and sword.' Again on the morrow
would dash up yet another, saying : ' What place make ye for, noble chief-
tains ? In the North have the Danes made a raid. Already have they
burnt your dwellings. Even now are they sweeping off your goods ;
tossing your babes on their spear-points, dishonouring your wives, and
haling them to captivity.' Bewildered by such tidings of bitter woe, both
Kings and people lost heart and strength both of mind and body, and
were utterly cast down. . . .

[Henry goes on to ascribe these calamities to the general irreligion of
the country ' where nothing was held shameful save piety, where the
surest road to ruin was by innocence. Therefore did the Almighty loose
upon them the most barbarous of all folk, the Danes, to wit, and Goths,
Norsemen and Swedes, Vandals and Frisians. Like swarms of wasps
they came, sparing neither age nor sex, and wasted the land 230 years,
even unto the coming in of the Normans.']

^ ^ "k "k ^

\ 4. Ethelwulf in the i6th year of his reign, and Eihelbald his son,

Henry of Hiuitingdon 169

gathered all their force, and fought against a mighty Host ; which, with
350 ships, had put in at Thames-mouth, and brake down those far-famed
cities, of age-long renown, London, to wit, and Canterbury, and worsted
and put to flight l^ertwulf, King of Mercia, who never throve after.
Then, going on into Surrey, met they, at Ockley, the King's force ; and
between those two great armies befell there the sternest fight ever known
in England. On either side the warriors fell like corn in harvest ; blood
flowed in torrents, sweeping along full many a head and many a limb.
Tedious were it to tell all in full. God gave the victory to His faithful,
and shame and disaster to them that despised Him.

;j 5. Thus was King Ethel wulf a glorious victor. An Alderman also,
named Ceorl, with the men of Devon fought the Heathen at Wembury
[near Plymouth], and slew many, and won the field. This year then was
lucky for the English folk : but it was the first wherein the Heathen
Host wintered in the land. . . .

[Here follows Asser, >^§ 8-12, slightly abbreviated.]

■X- * -X- -X- -if

;^ 6. Ethelwulf was removed from among men [a.d. 858], and buried
at Winchester, where indeed he had of old been Bishop, but on the death
of Egbert his father, must needs be made King, and having married a
wife, begat four sons, who were all Kings after him.

i^ 7. To his son Ethelbald left he the heritage of the kingdom of
Wessex, and to Ethelbert left he Kent, Surrey, and Sussex. Thus did
these brothers, youths alike right-minded, rule in peace, each his own
land, while both lived. And when Ethelbald, King of Wessex, had held
his kingdom in peace five years, he was cut off by an early death. Then
did all England bewail the youth, and great woe was made for him. At
Sherborne buried they him, and the English felt how much they had lost
in him.

i^ 8. Then did Ethelbert, his brother, follow him in the kingdom of
Wessex, who was before King of Kent. In his days came over a great
fleet, and the crews thereof stormed Winchester. Then came it to pass :

' Falls that old city, queen so many a year.'
{^Urbs antiqua ruit, multos dominata per a7znos.] — Virgil, ' /En.,' ii. 363.*

Then fought Osric the Alderman [di/x], with Hampshire, and Ethelwulf
the Alderman, with Berkshire, against that host ; and there put we thern
to flight with great slaughter, and won that day the field. . . .

[Here follows the Danish harrying of Kent (Asser, § 23).]
■^ -x- -x- -^ -x-

j; 9. Ethelbert this year [866] tasted death. Five years reigned he
over Wessex, and over Kent reigned he ten years. And Ethelred his
brother reigned in his stead.

That same year came there to land in England a mighty host of
Heathen. And their Chieftains who led them were Ingwar and Hubba,
valiant men, but all too cruel. Ingwar stood first in craft, Hubba in

I/O Alfred in the Chroniclers

valour. Among the East Angles did they winter, and made peace with
them, and took horses from that folk, and (for that they were all quiet
and adread) spared them for that while. . . .

[Here follows a short account of the Danish victory at York (Asser,
j^>' 30, 31).]

* * * * *

ii 10. In the third year of his reign [868] went King Ethelred, with
Alfred his brother, unto Nottingham, to the aid of Burghred, King of
Mercia. For the Danish host had marched to Nottingham, and there
wintered. Ingwar then, seeing that the whole force of England was
there gathered, and that his host was the weaker, and was there shut in,
betook him to smooth words — cunning fox that he was — and won peace
and troth from the English. Then went he back to York, and abode
there one year, with all cruelty.

§ II. In the year of our Lord 870, which was the fifth of King Ethelred,
was St. Edmund taken up into Heaven. For the aforesaid Host under
King Ingwar, came through Mercia unto Thetford, and there wintered,
and wrought upon that wretched folk utter ruin. And Edmund, being
King, was liefer to die than to see such woe of his folk, whereupon he
was taken by the unbelievers, and his sacred body made fast to a tree,
and pierced all over through and through by their arrows. But by many
a miracle has God's mercy glorified it.

§ 12. In the sixth year of King Ethelred came there a new and number-
less Host, rushing on like a torrent and sweeping all before it, even unto
Reading. So many they were that they might not march in one body,
but in sundry bands, and by divers ways. . . .

[Here follows a shortened account of the campaign of 871 and the
following events (Asser, >^§ 36-51).]

§ 13. In the seventh year of King Alfred [878] did the Danes hold all
the whole land, from Thames northward. In Northumbria reigned King
Halfdene, and in East Anglia his brother, and in Mercia those three
other Kings [Guthrum, Oscytel, and Anwynd] ; and Ceolwulf, whom they
had set up, reigned around London and in Essex. To King Alfred,
then, was left nought save the lands south of Thames, and that the Danes
grudged him, and thought scorn that it should yet be his.

^ 14. On Wessex, then, dashed those three Kings, with wondrous
swarms newly come in from Denmark. Unto Chippenham they came,
and spread over the land, covering the face of the earth like locusts, and
taking all for themselves, for none could withstand them. Of the land-
folk some fled over sea, some bowed them to the foe, some were in hiding
with King Alfred in the fens, — and few these were.

But now that King Alfred had neither land or hope longer, the Lord
looked down upon the remnant of His people. . . .

[Here follows Asser, ^§ 58-69, much abbreviated, viz., the Danish

Henry of HMntingdon 171

defeat in Devon, Alfred's decisive victory at Ethandune, Guthrum's

baptism, the Continental doings of the Danes, their attempt on Rochester.]

* * -x- -if- *

§ 15. Then did King Alfred from Kent send a sea force unto East
Anglia. And they came to Stour-mouth, and there met they 16 ships of
the Vikings,^ and worsted them in fight. But as they were homeward
bound, all laden with spoil, there bore down upon them a Viking fleet,
and no small one. And when it came to fighting therewith, they had
this time the worse. . . .

[Here follow the deaths of Carloman and Marinas (Asser, §§71, 73).]
•X- -x- * * -x-

§.i6. The Danish Host went up the Seine, even to Paris Bridge, and
there they wintered. And this year [886] King Alfred beset London, for
most of the Danes therein had followed into France after their Host.
Then, so soon as the Danes were off, did the English [of London] bow
to him with one accord, and gave him entrance as their King. And he
gave the city in ward to Ethelred the Alderman. . . .

[Here follows a short account of Continental affairs, and the sub-
sequent Danish invasion of England, in 893, from the Anglo-Saxon
Chronicle.]

•X- -X- -X- -Jf -x-

§ 17. Thus did King Alfred reign over all England, save what was
under the Danish sway, for twenty-eight and a half years ; then felt
he the sting of death. His unwearied rule, his never-ending toil, may I
not worthily set forth save in verse :

Thine own greatness inborn, O Alfred mighty in battle,

Made thee the Teller of Truth, and truth-telling made thee a doer,

And thy doing of deeds hath made thee a name everlasting.

Not without sadness thy joy, thy hopes with fear interwoven.

Ever, when worsted, thou madest thee ready to fight on the morrow,

Ever, when victor, the more didst dread thee to fight on the morrow.

Stained was thy garment with sweat, with gore thy falchion bepainted ;

Marking how heavily weighed upon thee the burden of kingship.

Nay, for in all the wide world like thee we find not another,

Who 'mid so many an ill, might breathing-space gain for a moment.

Never could foeman's steel his steel beat down from his handgrip.

Never was forged the blade that could end his toil with a sword-stroke.

Now that the woes of his reign and his life-long labours are over,

Christ be to him true Rest, be Christ his kingdom unending.

[Nobilitas innata tibi probitatis honorem
Armipotens ^Elfrede dedit, probitasque laborem,
Perpetuumque labor nomen. Cui mixta dolore
Gaudia semper erant ; spes semper mixta timore.
Si modo victus eras, ad crastina bella parabas.
Si modo victor eras, ad crastina bella timebas.

^ Henry of Huntingdon is the earliest authority for the use of this name, which
is probably derived from the Teutonic wig— war.

I 72

Alfred in the Chroniclers

Cui vestes sudore jugi, cui sica cruore
Tincta jugi, quantum sit onus regnare probarunt.
Non fuit immensi quisquam per cliniata mundi
Cui tot in adversis vel respirare iiceret.
Nee tamen aut ferro contritus ponere ferrum
Aut gladio potuit vitiv finire labores.
Jam, post transactos vita; regnique dolores,
Christus ei sit vera quies, sceptrumque perenne.]

VII.

F

FLORENCE OF WORCESFER.

LORENCE was a monk of Worcester, and died 1 1 18.
i His 'Chronicle' extends from the Enghsh Conquest
to 1 1 17. For the reign of Alfred, it is merely a
slightly abridged copy of Asser, so far as Asser goes, and
afterwards of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle.

Several MSS. of this work exist, all of the twelfth and
thirteenth centuries. The standard text is that of Petrie
(* Monumenta '), and has been translated in * The Church
Historians of England.'

The following extracts are given :

SECTION

4. Of Sr. Edmund.

5. Of Sr. Swithun.

lo. Of Bishop Denewulf.

SECTION

13. Alfred's stronghold.
15. His death and glory.

174 Alfred in the Chroniclers

FLORENCE OF WORCESTER.

§ I. For our period Florence copies almost throughout verbatim
either from Asser or the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, with here and there a
slight difference in the arrangement of his items, and, very occasionally,
a touch or two of his own. He thus gives us the birth and pedigree of
Alfred, the first wintering here of the Danes in 851 (which, like Asser, he
places in Sheppey, not Thanet), the sack of Canterbury, ' that is the chief
city of Kent,' and London, 'which lieth on the North bank of the River
Thames, on the boundary of Essex and Middlesex, though, indeed,
this city pertaineth to Essex,' and the Battle of Ockley.

^ 2. Next comes Ethelwulf's subjugation of the Welsh and his sending
of Alfred to Rome [853] . ' Pope Leo, at his father's asking, wholly gave
him due place \oppido ordma7is\ anointed him to be King, and taking
him for his own son by adoption, confirmed him.'

si 3. The fight at Thanet, the marriage of Elswitha to Burghed of
Mercia, Ethelwulf's tything, pilgrimage to Rome, and marriage, follow as
in Asser, also Ethelbald's conspiracy, and the story of Edburga. Then
comes the death of Ethelwulf and Ethelbald's incest.

§ 4. 'In 855, Edmund, a man most holy and acceptable to God, sprung
from Old Saxon stock, the truest of Christians, pleasant-spoken and
kind to all, for meekness far-famed, free-handed \liberaliter dapsilis\
toward the needy ; to orphans and widows the kindness of patrons ;
gained the supreme authority \culmen regwtinis] in the province of East
Anglia.'

i^ 5. The reign of Ethelbert is marked only by the Danish raid on
Winchester, and in 862 we read ' St. Swithun passed away and sought
the starry height in the loth Indiction, the 6th of the Nones of July
[July 2], on the fifth day [of the week].'

^ 6. The harrying of Kent, the Danes in East Anglia, their capture of
York, the death of Bishop Ealhstan, the comet of 868, the marriage of
Alfred, the march to Nottingham, follow with one original sentence :
' The oratory of St. Andrew the Apostle at Kemsege was built, and was
dedicated by Alhun, Bishop of Worcester.'

§ 7. The return of the Danes to York is followed by their raid upon
East Anglia, where ' Edmund, the most holy and glorious King, as is
read in his passion, v as martyred by King Ingwar, an utter heathen
[^paganissimus\ in the second Indiction, on Sunday the 12th of the
Kalends of December [November 20].'

§ 8. The events of the year 871 are wholly from Asser, from whom
also, on Alfred's accession Florence inserts the notice of his infancy and
boyhood, his thorn in the flesh, his children, his versatility, his devout-
ness, his liberality, and his zeal for education. And under the date of 872
he tells of his galaxy of teachers (including Asser).

Florence of Worcester 175

§ 9. The conquest of Mercia by * the Danish pirates,' and their subju-
gation of Northumbria and Cambridge, Alfred's first sea-fight, the
episodes of Wareham and Exeter, bring us to 876, where Florence adds :
' Rollo and his men invaded \penetravit\ Normandy, on the 15th of the
Kalends of December [November 17].' The destruction of the Danish fleet
at Swanage is given, not from Asser, but from the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle.

§ 10. The overrunning of Wessex, and the following events of 878 are
taken from Asser, (without the story of the cakes). In 879 we read :

* Dunbert, Bishop of Winchester, being dead, Denewulf succeeded.
He, if fame is to be trusted, to an advanced age was not merely un-
lettered, but a mere swineherd, whom King Alfred, when he fled to
the woods for the violence of his enemies, lit upon as he was feeding his
pigs. Perceiving his good wit, he put him to school, and after he was
fully instructed, created him Bishop of Winchester ; a truly miraculous
transaction \commentus rem dignani 7niraculo\

§ II. The foreign doings of the Danes follow, and their attempt on
Rochester, all from Asser (see p. loi), whose death, by some extraordinary
blunder, Florence records in 883, in connection with Alfred's Mission to
India, and whom he copies so slavishly that he does not correct even his
most obvious slips of the pen.

§ 12. He next gives Asser's account of Alfred's troubles, his abbeys,
his systematic almsgiving and devotion (with a description of his lantern),
and his administration of justice. [See pp. 1 11- 118.]

§ 13. The defeat of the Danes in Britanny, their return to England,
the simultaneous invasion under Hasting, and the rising of the resident
Danes, follow as in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, with the following addi-
tional details :

' .And when this was known. King Alfred took with him part of his
army, (leaving part, as he was wont, at home, and placing some, too, on
garrison duty in his castles and cities), hied him with all speed to Kent,
and pitched his camp between the two Heathen hosts, in a spot strong
by nature, (girded to wit by brimming waters, whose waves ran high
\iindis admodujn crispantibiis\ by high rocks and by overhanging woods),
so that, forsooth, if they should seek any open country for spoil or fight
he might instantly join battle with them. But they, now on foot, now on
horse, raiding by bands, haunted in their harrying those parts where they
saw the King's army was not. Yet did many a man, not only of the
King's force, but of burghers, almost every day and night, surprise and
slaughter them, harassing them to such a degree that they forsook Kent
and burst forth on foray from all their holds at once. So had they done
once before, when first they took up their abode hereabouts. But this
time held they more and choicer \uberwre7n] spoil, and were fain to cross
Thames river and get them into Essex, — thus to meet, booty and all, with
the ship-host whom they had sent before them.'

§ 14. The Battle of Farnham, the capture of Beamfleet, the episode of
the sons of Hasting, the Danish attack on Devon, and their defeats at

1/6 Alfred hi iJic Chroniclers

Chichester and at Buttingion, where ' many thousands of the Heathen
were slain,' their march to Chester, ' which was at that time uninhabited.'
the capture of their fleet in the Lea, and their final break up at Coa*>-
bridge, are told from the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle.

* O with what ceaseless harrying, with what grievous raids, in what dire
and piteous fashion was all England then vexed, not only by the Danes
who had occupied parts of the land, but by these sons of Satan ' [the
Danes from abroad].

i^ 15. The final suppression of the Danish piracies by Alfred's guard-
ships [see p. 130] brings us to his death :

' Renowned, warlike, victorious ; the devoted champion of widow?,
wards, orphans, and poor ; the master of Saxon song-craft ; the darling of
his people ; kind of speech to all, and free of hand ; endowed with
prudence, fortitude, justice and temperance ; so patient under his daily
infirmity ; so fair and so sagacious in awarding sentence ; so watchful
and so devout in God's service ; Alfred, King of the Anglo-Saxons, son
of the most religious King Ethelwulf, having completed 29 years and
six months of his reign, died in the fourth Indiction,i on the 5th of the
Kalends of November [October 28], and at Winton in the New Monas-
tery is he buried, awaiting the robe of a blessed immortality, and the glory
of the resurrection with the just.'^

'To him succeeded his son Edward, surnamed the Elder, in letters
inferior to his father, but in dignity, in power, and eke in glory above
him.'

^ This final encomium is also found in William of Malmesbury.
- The fourth Indiction began September 24, a.d, 900.

VIII.
GAIMAR.

LITTLE is known of this writer ; but there is good
reason to assign his work to the middle of the
twelfth century. It is a rhyming chronicle, in
French, founded upon the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, with
various additions from floating legends, beginning with the
English Conquest, and ending with the death of Rufus.

Four thirteenth-century MSS. exist, and the earlier portion
is printed by Petrie in 'Monumenta Britannica.'
The extracts here given are these :

LINE

1. 2526. Of the Kings Ethel wulf,

Ethel bald, and Ethelbert.

2. 2569. Of the coming in of the

Danes.

3. 2725. Of King Ella.

4. 2840. Of the Danes at Nottingham.

5. 2870, Of King Edmund.

6. 2933. Of the Danes in Wessex.
.7- 2955. Of the field of Reading.

LINE

8.

3015

9-

3023

10.

3065

II.

3130

12.

3261.

13-

3398

14-

3439-

How Ethelred died.
How Alfred reigned.
Of the Danes at Cambridge.
Of Alfred in Athelney.
Of the Danes in France.
How the Danes came back.
How Alfred died ; and of
his greatness.

12

178 Alf7'cd in the Chroniclers

GAIMAR.

L. 2526. Ten years and nine reigned the King [Ethelwulf], and at
Winchester was he buried. Son was he to King Egbert, who made all
the realm obey him. His two sons, whom he gat by his first wife, had his
kingdom. Edelbald had all Wessex, Edelbyrht held Kent, Sussex, Essex,
and Surrey. Kings of might they were, all their life long. King Edel-
bald reigned five years ; then died he ; life failed him. King Edelbyrht
was his brother ; he took Wessex as was right. Six years did he reign ;
then he died ; and to Sherburn they bare him after his brother. Very
dear to the English died he ; for these two lost Kings had ofttimes
worsted the Danes. . . .

[Here comes in the harrying of Hampshire and East Kent (Asser, § 22).]

L. 2569. In the time of this King [Ethelred] came the great fleet ; the
like saw never no man who saw not this. In East Anglia came they to
land, and there abode over winter [866]. In March, for mockery, made
they truce with that folk. Then they mounted them on the best horses
their vassals had, and in ships too went some. So far as to Humber set
they sail. Marched there on foot more than twenty thousand : great
wonder is it to tell thereof. Turned then these Danes, and passed the
water at Grimsby, those on foot and all, together. Great plenty had
they of people. With the ships went they all to York ; great war waged
they there both by land and water. . . .

[Here Gaimar tells how the Danes had been brought in by Bruern, a
Northumbrian Baron, whose wife the King had dishonoured ; and adds
a spirited legend of the rival King Ella (Asser, § 30). When the Danes
surprised York, he tells us :]

L. 2725. Ella the King was sitting in the wood : four bisons had the
King taken in hunting. Sitting was he at his dinner ; he heard a [blind]:
man sound a bell. In his hand he held it, a little bell ; clear it sounded
as a chime {eschelete\ . Food he asked ; the King bade serve him there-
with. - Said the King to a knight, ' We have done well to-day : four
bisons and six deer [ckez/erels] : all we hunted have we taken.' From
afar the blind man heard him ; then spake he a true word : ' And if in
this wood you have taken so much, you have lost all this land. Better
have the Danes done : York have they taken ; Osbert is slain by his foes.'
Answered the King: 'How knowest thou this?' 'My sense showeth
me. ... At York shall be a great battle. If thou believest me not, get
thee on. Howbeit none otherwise can it be. A King must needs there
lose his head. . .'

L. 2822. King Ella rode on madly ... he was beside himself. On
all sides were the Danes. Slain then was Ella the King. . . . The
place is now called Ella-Cross. . . . Never a Dane took rest till all the
land north of Humber was brought under them. . . .

Gail liar i 79

L. 2840. Then went they into Mercia ; in this realm the Danes took
Nottingham. . . . King Burghred [Bureth] gathered a host ; toEthelred
[Edelreth] he sent, who reigned over Wessex. A brother he had, Alfred
[Elured] ; right well knew he how to give good counsel, and to draw up
a battle ; well-skilled was he in war ; clerk was he, and good astronomer.

These two called their host, and came and beset Nottingham. But
the Danes within full easily kept them off. All were glad when they
took a truce. . . .

[The Danes now return to York and march thence to Thetford, the
Mercian and Northumbrian levies accompanying them. This informa-
tion is given us by Gaimar alone.]

L. 2870. A King they found in this land ; Edmund was his name. A
good Christian he was, and the friend of (lod ; a holy man. This King
fought ; and all the folk he had ; but win he might not, for the many the
Danes had. Bravely they fought, but the field was the foe's. . . . King
Edmund was driven to a castle. . . . The Heathen came hard after.
Edmund went out to meet them. The first they met took him. Then
asked they, ' Where is Edmund ? Tell us.' ' That will I freely and at
once. Before the fight Edmund was here, and I. When I fled the field,
so did he. If he will 'scape you I know not.' Now is the King's end in
the hand of God, and of Jesus whom He served. . . . When they knew
St. Edmund, the miscreants, full cruelly bade they him deny God's Faith,
and Christ the Maiden-born. Said the King, ' Not so. Firm will I hold
to Him.' What then did the foe.'* To a tree made they bind him. . . .
They shot the King with hand-bows. ... So full was his body of the
darts of these villains, as is of prickles the skin of the hedgehog, when he
bears off apples from the garden. ^ . . . Then sent they a wicked man,
Goran Colbe was his name, to cut off the saint's head. Thus was
Edmund the Martyr slain. . . .

L. 2933. When they had done this shame turned they from thence,
and went straight to Reading. Slowly they went ; towns they wasted
and cities ; and Christians they slew, and churches they spoiled. . . .
Two counts on horseback went to Englefield. There found they Edel-
wolf, a great baron of that land. He had gathered his friends ... a
many Danes they killed, and one of the counts, Sidrac ; wicked was he
and warlike. . . .

L. 2955. Four days after Ethelred and his brother Alfred came to
Reading, with a very great host. The Danes soon sallied out. In the
open field was the fray ; all day long it lasted. There Edelwolf was
killed. And Edelred and Alfred were driven to Wiscletet [Wistley Green,
near Twyford]. There is a ford towards W^indsor by the riverside in a
moor; Twyford was ever the name of that ford. Hither came the
Host in chase, and wotted not of that ford. So the English escaped ;
but many were killed and wounded. . . .

^ The hedgehog was supposed to rob orchards by biting off the fruit and
carrying it away impaled upon his spines.

12 — 2

i8o Alfred in the Chroniclers

[Next come the battles of Ashdown, Basing, and Merlon.]
L. 301 V Then came in a mighty tyrant ; Summerlede the (ireat^ was
his name. . . . He would have fought King Ethelred, but he died ; he
is in his coffin. At Wimborne the King is laid ; but five years did he
reign. . . .

L. 3023. Then reigned King Alfred ; Ethelwolfing was he called \i.e.,
the son of Ethel wolf]. Gathered the Danes, and sought him in Wessex.
At Wilton was he found, with the few he got together ; he fought, but
'twas in vain ; from the field they chased him, and into the green-
wood. . . . And this year the Danes took a truce from King Alfred,
then forsook they Reading. In London they wintered. , . .
[Here follows their conquest of Mercia.]

L. 3065. Then went they divers ways. In London stayed Ingwar ;
and Halfdene the other King went to war with the Picts. Oft put he
them to the worse ; and eke Stretclued, King of Galloway.'^ The Kings
Godrum, Oschetel, and Anwynd took counsel they should to Granta-
brige [Cambridge] and beset the city. So did they : quickly from Repton
led they their great host. Almost a year endured the siege : like fools,
they left it in the end; much they lost and little they gained. Then away
they rode by stealth, straight to Wareham. . . .

[Here follow the events at Wareham, Exeter, and Swanwich, where
^ one hundred and forty ships went to the devil'; and the overrunning of
Wessex by the Danes.]

L. 3130. With all their will set they them to do evil. Minsters they
brake down, and houses, and chapels, and monasteries. They drave folk
Jrom the land; and many did they bind in prison. King Alfred, their
Lord, he knew not what to do, nor yet what to say. . . . He kept him
in the woods and wilds, to 'scape their bloody hands. . . .

L. 3 141. Nevertheless he gathered all he might ... oft slew he some
of them. A brother of Iware [Ingwar] and Halfdene, did he kill, in the
forest of Pen; an evil-doer was he, and his name was Ubbe [Hubba].
When the Danes found him, they made over him a great mound ; and
they called it Ubbe-lawe.^ The mound is in Devon. There were many
slain ; eight hundred and forty there fell ; perjured, bloodthirsty felons
they were. The war-flag of Ubbe was taken ; the name thereof was The
Raven. . . .

[We now come to the rising of the English and their victory at Ethan-
dune : ' I cannot say aright which side had the more slain ; but this
know I well, that good King Alfred and his barons there won renown and
victory ' — the baptism of Guthrum, and the departure of the Danes to
France, ' more than a hundred Kings with their hosts.']

^ I.e., a summer-lead. See pp. 10, 12.

- This is another curious confusion. Galloway was part of the British kingdom
of Strathclyde.

^ Till the seventeenth century there was a mound near Kinwith Castle, on the
sandhills by Barnstaple Bay, called the Hubba Stone.

Gainiar 1 8 1

L. 3261. At Yarmouth put they to sea ; unto Chdzig came they. . . .
All the land they wasted . . . sore wailed the peasants . . . the cruci-
fixes brake they down . . . many barons did they slay. ... So brake
the Heathen into a land toward Bretagne ; St. Lo was its name. . . .
The folk of Bretagne they fought like wild men \feloiis\. Thanks be to
God, the God of glory, over the Danes had they the victory. There
did those Heathen perish together ; all their pride and all their fame in
one day. Into France came they back no more. . . .

[Here we find the interchange of gifts between Alfred and Pope
Marinus (Asser, § 71) ; the death of Charles and his kinship to Judith —
' never knew lady more of the Faith ' — Alfred's rebuilding of London, and
the death of Guthrum.]

L. 3398, Then came it to pass that the Heathen Host appeared again,
which went into France ; all that realm had they wasted. . . . Now
had they store of spoil, of gold, of silver, and of horses of great price.
At Cherbourg put they to sea ; and to Limne-mouth came they. . . .
All the coasts by the sea did those foemen harry ; ill hap, indeed, was
their return. Ships had they two hundred and fifty ; much evil did their
stay. From the other side came back Estein [Hasting] ; into Thames
drew he, and a large fleet. In Kent he did after his own will. . . .
When these two hosts were together, they went about destroying
Christendom. . . .

L. 3439. Then came it to pass, as it pleased God, Alfred, who fought
so well, died. Then from the Nativity, from the day wherein God was
born, had passed nine hundred years and one, to the day King Alfred
died. For twenty and eight years right well did he reign ; few such be
now living. For wise was he, and a warrior good ; we|l knew he how to
curb his foes. Never was better clerk than he, for from childhood
upwards had he learning. A book made he write in English, of deeds,
and of laws, and of battles in the land, and of Kings who made war.
Books a many made he to write, which learned men go oft to read. May
God have mercy on his soul, and St. Mary our Lady.

Then reigned his son Edward, the valiant, the wise, the courteous.

IX.
ROGER OF WENDOVER.

'FLOWERS OF HISTORY.'

THIS writer was a monk of St. Albans, who died I237»
His work covers the world's history to 1235, and,
so far as our period is concerned, is almost wholly
taken from earlier authorities. He inserts, however, varions
interesting and picturesque details, which are here given ; and
never fails to record the various ecclesiastical changes of the
time.

Roger's work was carried on by Matthew Paris, and passed
under his name. In the next century it was pirated, name
and all, by Matthew of Westminster.

CONTENTS.

SKCTION

SKCTION

I.

Of King Ethelwulf.

7. Of the death of Edmund.

3-

Of King Edmund.

II. Of the inroad on Wessex

4-

Of King Ethelbald and of St.

13. Of King Cuthred.

Swithin.

14. Of Hasting in Gaul.

5-

Of Bishop Alfstan.

16. (Jf Hasting in England.

6.

Of wasting of Abbeys.

17. Of Alfred's end.

Roger of Wcndoi>er 183

ROGER OF WENDOVER.

J; I. In the year of our Lord 837 . . . Egbert, King of the West
Saxons . . . departed out of this v/orld. . . . After him came his son
Ethelwulf or Adulf, who had four sons of fame . . . who all reigned after
him. He had also a fifth son, Athelstan, born out of wedlock, to whom
he gave the realms which his father Egbert won. . . .

[Here follows Henry of Huntingdon's introduction of the Danes into
England ; his account of the birth and parentage of Alfred, and events to
the Battle of Ockley and the marriage of Elswitha. Roger here inserts
the tale of the Old Woman of Berkley, immortalized by Southey. Con-
tinuing, he tells of Ethelwulf's subjugation of Wales, of his tithing
charter, his journey to Rome.]

§ 2. With him he took the youngest and dearest of his sons, Alfred,
that he might be instructed by Pope Leo in faith and morals. A whole
year tarried he there with his son, and had him crowned King by the
Pope, and a few days after set forth homewards. And on the way he
wedded Judith . . . and brought her to England. But meanwhile was
there a plot formed against him ... to keep him out of the realm . . .
for twofold cause. First because he had Alfred, his youngest, crowned
at Rome, as though to shut out his elder sons from the kingship ; and
next that he had slighted all the women of England in wedding a
stranger. . . .

[Next comes the story of Edburga (from Asser) and the partition of the
kingdom.]

§ 3. In the year of our Lord 855 . . . Edmund . . . took over the rule
of the East Angles, in the 13th year of his age, on the day of our Lord's
Nativity. Chosen King he was, that pious and godly youth, of all the
Lords and Commons of that realm; and, sore against his will, needs must
he reign. And the gift of hallowing took he from Humbert, Bishop of
Elmham, in a town-royal called Bures. . . .

[After this comes the death and will of Ethelwulf, who is said to have
been Bishop of Winchester before his coronation. Ethelbald's marriage
with Judith follows.]

§ 4. But in the year 859 of our Lord, did Ethelbald . . . repent him
of this fault, and did penance therefor. Judith, his stepmother, did he
put away ; and ruled his realm for the rest of his days in peace and
righteousness. ...

[His death follows, and that of St. Swithun, with sundry legends of
that saint, and how, 'when he had to dedicate any new church, never
would he ride thither nor yet be drawn, however long the way, but
stoutly went on foot, and this by night, lest it should be set down to
ostentation. For never made he show of his good deeds.'

The reign and death of Ethelbert are next touched on, the accession
of Ethelred, and the great Danish invasion of East Anglia, and their

184 Alfred in the Chroniclers

sack of York (Asser, § 31), with the additional entry that 'The Kings of
the Northumbrians being thus slain, a certain Englishman named Egbert
for six years ruled the realm, under the Danes.']

N^ 5. In the same year [867] died Alfstan, Bishop of Sherborne. In
the days of Egbert, and of Ethelwulf his son, great was his power in the
realm. For by his statecraft brought he Kent and East Anglia under
Egbert. He stirred up Ethelwulf, also, against the Danes . . . and
himself raised money, and gathered a host, and fought with the foe many
a stout tight, and won them, too. His power may be judged from his
having kept King Ethelwulf out of the kingdom, on his return from Rome,
and made his son Ethelbald King in his stead, till at length he suffered
him to share the kingdom. He ruled his church 50 years. . . .

[We now read of Alfred's wedding, of the Danes at Nottingham, and
their great raid of 870.]

§ 6. Old and young did these cut-throats slaughter, whomsoever they
met ; and holy matrons and virgins they shamefully handled. . . .
[Here we are told how the nuns of Coldingham, to escape dishonour, cut
off their own noses, on beholding which, 'the tyrants rushed in haste
away, nor would make one moment's tarrying.' They burnt the Abbey,
however, nuns and all.]

After this, sailed they, the wicked miscreants, along the coast, wasting
with fire and sword all that ever they came to. . . . The noblest
Abbeys along the coast were wasted ; Lindisfarne (wherein was then the
Bishop's see) . . . Tynemouth, Jarrow, Wearmouth (wherein Bede the
Priest was brought up), Streonshall [Whitby] (founded by the Blessed
Hilda. . . .).

Through Yorkshire next passed they, burning churches, towns and
villages, utterly destroying all folk, of whatsoever sex and age. . . .
Going on thence they brake down all the Abbeys of monks and virgins
in the fens . . . Crowland, Thorney, Ramsey, Hampstead (which is now
called Peterborough), and Ely, so famous of old. . . .

§ 7. [Roger next tells at great length the story of St, Edmund, how
Lodbroc, father of Ingwar and Hubba, was murdered at his court, and
how th6 murderer persuaded the sons that Edmund had done the deed,
how thereupon they invaded England to avenge it, and, landing at Berwick,
marched, ravaging as they went, to East Anglia.]

There camped they, at a town called Thetford, and put to the sword
all they found, men and women . . . that the King might not be able to
raise an army . . . for they had heard the prowess of King Edmund, and
also of his size and stature beyond all men. . . . Then sent they to the
King ... a message . . . after this sort. ' Lord Ingwar, the dread and
invincible King of the Danes, is come hither to winter. Despise him,
and your life and kingdom are of little worth.' . . . Then groaned
Edmund and asked counsel of the Bishop of Elmham, saying, 'O
Humbert, servant of the Living (lod . . . here be these fierce barbarians 5|

. » . who would blot us out. . . . But never will I ... be under a

I

Roger of We7tdover 185

heathen, when, by dying for my land, I can become a standard-bearer
in the kingdom eternal. . . . Moreover God is my witness that no fear
shall separate me from the love of Christ, alive or dead.' Turning then
to the messenger ... he said . . . ' Hasten back to your master, and
bear him my answer . . . that never shall you make me subject to an
unbeliever. . . .'

>J 8. Then bade King Edmund that his comrades fly to arms ... to
fight for faith and fatherland. . . . From morn to eve raged the battle,
and the whole field was red with the blood of the slain. And the pious
King was woe, not alone for the slaughter of his comrades . . . for they,
he well knew, had attained the Martyr's crown ; . . . but much more
bitterly bewailed he the doom of the unbelievers, thus hurled into the gulf
of hell. . . . Thus, after the fray, he steadfastly purposed never again to
fight with the barbarians ... * but alone,' said he, ' will to die for the
people, that the whole nation perish not. . . .'

§ 9. Then fled he to the church . . . and humbly prayed God to grant
him strength to suffer. . . . Led forth was he before the wicked chief,
who bade bind him to a tree thereby ; whereafter he was long scourged
and mocked every way. But he, Christ's undaunted champion, called
ever on Him between every stroke, to the fury of his tormentors. . . .
So they shot him till he was all covered with arrows ... as a hedghog
with spines. And when Ingwar . . , could never make him forsake
his faith in Christ ... he bade . . . cut off his head . . . even as he
was praying and confessing the name of Christ. . . .

§ 10. The headless body of the martyr . . . left those servants of Satan
in Hailesdon Wood amid the thick briars . . . that it might not have
Christian burial . . . and his head cast they into that same wood . . .
to be devoured by the beasts of the field. . . . But, when spring drew
on, all the Heathen left East Anglia. On hearing this the Christians
everywhere came forth from hiding, and did their best to find the head
of King Edmund, . . . Then came a wondrous thing . . . for as they
searched among the brake, and called one to another in their native
tongue ' Where are you ? Where are you ?' the martyr's head made
answer in the same tongue, ' Here, here, here.' So found they a huge
wolf, with the head between its paws as watching over it. . . . Praising
God, they bare it to the body . . . and laid both in a fit tomb. . . . And
the wolf follov^ed to the grave, and went back to the wilds. . . . Now
the martyr suffered in the year of our Lord 870, the 29th of his age and
16th of his reign, on the 12th day of December. ... In the same year was
the see of Dunwich transferred to Elmham, and instead of two Bishops,
the one at Dunwich and the other at Elmham, one only was made. . . .

§ II. [Here follows the invasion of Wessex ; the battles of Englefield,
Reading, Ashdown, Basing, and Merton ; the accession of Alfred ; his
pedigree ; his childhood ; his infirmity ; his virtues ; — all from Asser.

Next comes the Battle of Wilton ; the calling in of Grimbald, Asser, etc. ;
the Danish conquest of Mercia and Northumbria — ' which touched

1 86 Alfred in the Chroniclers

Ricsy, the last King thereof, so deeply that he died of a broken heart' ;
their taking of Cambridge, Wareham and Exeter ; and the sea-fight at
S manage.]

In ihe year 8/8 . . . Guthrum, King of the Danes, had passed through
every realm in England, with boldness unconquerable, laying waste every
holy spot, and sharing out amongst his men all the silver and gold he
might come by. Now, at last (hearing of the fame of King Alfred, how,
in forethought, wisdom, and wealth, he was beyond all Kings that were in
England), he turned thitherward his impious arms. Towns and villages
he gave to the flames, whomsoever he met them put he to the sword . . .
sparing neither man nor woman, nor yet the tender babe. . . .

[Here Roger brings in the Danish defeat at Kinwith, where ' the blood
of Edmund was avenged by the sword of Alfred.' But he makes the
ravage of Wessex continue still.]

i 12.. In this storm of persecution, the faithful Bishops of Christ fled
over sea, with the relics of the saints and the treasures of the churches.
With them went much people ; and some, with King Alfred, sought hiding
in the woods and deserts, through that evil time. . . .

There is a spot in the West called Athelney . . . girded in by fen on
all sides, so that by boat only can it be come at. On this islet is there a
thicket of alders, full of stags and goats and other such creatures, and in
the midst a bit of open ground, scarce two acres. Hither, in his distress,
came Alfred all alone. . . .

[Here is the episode of the cakes ; the reproof of St. Neot ; the vision
of St. Cuthbert ; the English rising ; the victory of Ethandune ; the
Baptism of Guthrum ; the Peace of Wedmore ; the Danish invasion of
Gaul.

§ 13. Next follows a curious entry, which appears to show that some
part of Northumbria, at least (probably the northern province Bernicia),
now more or less shook off the Danish yoke, and became once more an
English under-kingdom.]

St. Cuthbert ... in a vision . . . bade tell the Bishop there to buy
back Cuthred, whom the Danes had sold as a slave, and to make him
their King [z".<:. English under-king of Bernicia] . . . and he was crowned
in the 13th year of King Alfred. In the year 882 the Bishop's see which
was erst at Lindisfarne was transferred to Chester [le Street]. The saint
bade also . . . that whosoever should flee to his body in the hour of need
should for a month be unharmed. And King Alfred, and eke King
Cuthred, doomed this to be so for ever. And the aforesaid Kings gave
unto St. Cuthbert, over and above the old see, the whole land between
Tees and Tyne. . . . Then the Bishopric of Hagulstad [Hexham] ceased
to be, through the outburst of the Heathen. ^ . . .

i 14. [Here follows the gift of Marinus, the mission to India, the story
of John Scotus (from Simeon of Durham, ^^ 59) ; the fights at Rochester ;
Charles the Fat's vision (from the Chronicle of St. Neots, § 10) ; Alfred's

^ The see of the united bishoprics was finally transferred to Durham.

Roger of Wendover 187

repair of London ; and a list of all former English Kings. Then we come
to the Danish ravages in France under Hasting.]

After inflicting on Gaul all this wretchedness . . . Hasting — the wicked
thief — sailed off to Lunis, and thought to storm the city. But the towns-
folk . . . flew to arms . . . and, do all he could, he might not win the
place. So, at the last, he sent unto the Bishop . . . saying that he was
sick unto death, and was humbly fain to be christened. Thereat was the
Bishop full glad ; and they made peace with this enemy of peace, and
freely let his folk into the city. So this wicked Hasting was borne unto
the church, and dipped in the sacred font. And the Bishop and the
Mayor upraised him therefrom [z*.^., stood sponsors] to their own
destruction, and he received the Holy Chrism, and to his ship was he
borne back again.

>j 15. Thereafter, at dead of night, was he clad in armour, and laid on
a bier ; and, under their coats, he bade his men wear shirts of mail ; and
so, with feigned lamentation, bare they him to the church, as dead.
There, in his sacred vestments, was the Bishop, all ready to sacrifice the
Host for the departed — when, lo ! up from the bier sprang that son of
perdition, Hasting ; down he cut the Bishop and the Count, and fell,
raging like a wolf, upon the people . . . old and young were massacred,
the city was spoiled, and the walls thereof beaten down. . . .

§ 16. [Alfred's abbeys are next recorded, and his method in almsgiving
and devotion, also his lantern, his justice, his sister's death, the adventure
of the three Irishmen, and the comet of 892, ' which is called in the
Saxon tongue Vexed Siar.^^ Alfred's system of ' Hundreds ' follows ; and
then the great invasion, of 893, with another story of Hasting.]

But the heathen . . . fled ... to Milton, whither the King hotly
■chased them, and stayed not till he had driven them one and all into the
stronghold that Hasting the Cruel had wrought there. Straightway did
he beset the place . . . and gave his whole mind to the taking of it. And
Hasting the Dane (since of holding out he lost all hope) bethought him
how he might, by falsehood, cheat the King into pity. . . . Sureties gave
he, and bound him by oath, that, might he but be let go, never more would
he vex England. And the more to assure the King, he sent unto him his
two sons — but boys were they — that, if he would, he might give them the
Sacraments of the Faith and Baptism. Ever was the pious King more
ready to save the souls of the heathen than lo slay them . . . and, after
the boys were regenerated in the sacred Font, then suffered he their father
Hasting, and the rest of the misbelievers, to depart in peace, according
to the troth-plight. . . .

[The campaigns of 894 are now recorded, with the treason of Hasting
and the capture of his wife and children.]

No harm would the King do unto them, seeing that he had himself
upraised the one lad from the Font, and Earl Ethelred the other; there-
fore suffered he them to depart, mother and sons.

^ Roger misunderstands the Old 'En^hh fcexed, i.e., haired, a literal rendering
of the Latin come/a.

i88

Alfred in the Chroniclers

'i 17. [We now come to the campaigns of 895 and 896 (as in A.S.
Chronicle) ; the vision of Rollo, and his invasion of ' the land which
was then called Neustria, but now Normandy, from these very North-
men.'

The sea-fight in Devon is next mentioned (not described), and the
hanging of the pirates.]

Thereafter did the King hold his realm in peace all the rest of his life ;
giving himself wholly to the repair of churches, to almsdeeds, and to law-
giving. . . .

v: 18. In the year 900, Alfred, the Most Gracious King of the English
changed his temporal kingdom for the eternal, on Wednesday the 28th
day of October, in the fifth indiction. He was buried at Winchester in
the New Monastery, which he himself had founded, clad in the robe of
blessed immortality, and awaiting the General Resurrection, when once
again shall he be crowned.

I

H^

TTTCTTrTv ^ I VI VI vivi.viA-f.Ti vi.v rvT^.-.Trsrrrr.-.TiA :.\ :vAai53

X.

JOHN OF WALLINGFORD.

THE chronicle seems to have been written about 1255,
as it mentions Catherine, daughter of Henry HI.
(born 1253, died 1257), among his living progeny.
The author was a monk of St. Alban's. It begins with the
English Conquest, and ends with the accession of Edward the
Confessor. Its materials are handled with marked freedom
and confidence ; the writer, in fact, belonged to the band of
Higher Critics, as a glance at his pages will promptly show.
All mere historical facts are made to bow to the preconceived
idea with which he starts in a fashion quite modern. He writes,
however, with no little spirit and force, and is well worth
reading.

His work is to be found in Gale's * English Historians,' and
a translation in ' The Church Historians of England.' There
is an MS. in the Cottonian series, with a portrait of the author,
seemingly by his own hand.

CONTENTS.

1. Of the Scholar of St. Swithun.

2. Of the Coming of the Danes.

10. Of the birth and pedigree of Alfred.

11. Of his youthful wickedness.

12. Of Rollo.

14. Of Alfred and St. Neot.

16. Of Guthrum and Wessex.

18. Of Alfred in Athelney.

20. Of the English rising.

22. Of Alfred's Laws.

2^. Of his death.

190 Alfred ill the Chroniclers

JOHN OF WALLINGFORD.

§ I. Egbert . . . next began to reign . . . and won for himself
by a valiant arms-deed, all the realms that had been under the King of
Mercia. For his son Ethelwulf sent he, with a mighty muster, to drive
beyond Thames Baldred, King of Kent, . . . nor had Kent a King of
her own any more, but yielded obedience unto the Kings of Wessex. . . ,
Meanwhile in Northumbria reigned Eihelred, and after him Osbert, for
thirteen years. Him did the Northumbrians drive from his kingship,,
and in his stead put they Ella, howbeit not of the blood royal. . . .

[Here follows the Danish sack of York, from Asser.]

§ 2. Then did the Danes make Egbert King of such of the North-
umbrian folk as were left, and there reigned he five years [see p. 184].
Surrey also, and Sussex, and Essex, and East Anglia, yea and the Kings
of Mercia came under him, and he reigned in all thirty years and five. . . ,
After him came his son Ethelwulf, . . . who left four sons, Ethelbald^
Ethelbert, Ethelred, and Alfred. Ethelbald . . . reigned five years, and
fought without ceasing against the Danes, as did his brothers after him,
Ethelbert and Ethelred, ... all alike giving their lives to free their folk
and their fatherland. But amongst these brethren could Alfred get him
no honour ; for why, he was as yet but a youth.

^ 3. Along with all these Kings was St. Swithun . . . far-famed amongst
all his fellow-clerks for holy life and conversation. To him did the afore-
said King [Egbert] commit for teaching . . . his son Ethelwulf, his only
comfort, the one hope of the realm and heir to all of right. . . . Fainer
was he to live as a tonsured priest than of worldly worship and kingly
power, . . . and in the church of Winchester came he unto the order of
sub-deacon, and served it well, with good hope to rise further.

§ 4. But when Egbert . . . died, then did all the land-folk call for
Ethelwulf, his only son, to be King, seeing that his alone was the right.
Yet, forasmuch as it was a thing unheard of that a sub-deacon should be
drawn back to the lay world, much strife arose thereon between the clergy
and. the laity. Then sought they counsel of the Apostolic See ; . . . and
Pope Leo, having called together a council on this petition, assented
thereto (as being the people's wish, and for the common weal), that
Ethelwulf, by his dispensation, should fall back from his sub-diaconate
to the kingship.

Of the Coming of the Danes.

§ 5. Now, then, are we entering on the troublous tale of many a war ;
wherefore we beg our reader, if he thinketh us all too brief, to look on this
at least as a general sketch. In such storm of events who can track the
course of each several wave ? . . .

^ 6. On the origin of the Danes . . . historians differ. Seme say they
are sprung from the Trojan Antenor, . . . others, with perhaps more

John of Wallin(^ford 191

reason, . . . that they are . . . from the Goths . . . who issuing from
. . . the island of Scanza [Scandinavia] set them down by the Nh^otid
Marsh [the sea of Azof] and after in Denmark [Danubio].^ Amongst
this folk long was it the wont (until it was checked when they took on the
Christian Faith), that the father should drive forth all his sons, save one
only to be his heir, ... to seek them new homes, for that their own land
might not support them all. Hence were they held as foes by all nations
round about them. Let whoso will read their story," and he will find
that Rome itself was not safe from these Goths. . . .

§ 7. And now . . . God, who can turn even evil unto good end, drew
forth His sword to cut short the English, and made hordes beyond count
to boil ov^r, so to speak, from Denmark. Yea, and they abide even unto
this day, a stone of stumbling and a rock of offence unto all around them.
The first band at this time (for already held they many a place in England),
led Ingwar and Hubba, . . . next came Rollo and his gang, then Guthrum.
And all these, for twenty years, fulfilled in divers places the chastisement
ordained before of God.

§ 8. Ingwar, then, and Hubba, landed first in Northumbria, and utterly
wasted all that sea-bord, from the Scottish Sea even unto East Anglia.
The shrines of the Saints burnt they ; cities, hamlets and castles laid
they even with the ground ; yea, and sold for a slave Cuthred, a man of
royal race, whom Hardecnut, one of their chiefs, had taken captive. But
him did St. Cuthbert ere long set free in wondrous wise, and exalted him
to be King. Moreover they burnt the Abbey of Wearmouth, wherein the
holy Bede, the friend of God, tasted of the joys of contemplation, and
which, even unto this day, keepeth alive the name and fame of that
Venerable Doctor. . . .

>; 9. Thereafter . . . came Ingwar unto East Anglia. This district
faceth the North-east, and hath many a ship-harbour. Very safe is it
from land attack . . . but without defence against perils from the sea.
. . . [There slew they Edmund], . . . the King and martyr, and joining
unto them other Danes, froward as themselves, . . . who had, by this,
won most part of Mercia, they even stormed and took London. Nor
had the men of London any hope of escape, seeing that all the power of
the South and West was broken. Only Ethelred reigned yet in West
Anglia ; and in the next year did he too pay the debt of nature, and
Alfred, the last of the sons of Ethelwulf, reigned in his stead. . . .

Of Alfred, First Monarch of All England.

§ 10. In the year 849 from the Incarnation of our Lord was born Alfred^
King of the Anglo-Saxons, in that part of England which is called Berk-
shire. . . .

^ The confusion between Denmark and the Danube is often in the Chroniclers.
The Goths from Scandinavia really did settle first in southern Russia and then by
the Danube.

192 Alfj'ed in the Chronic ley s

[Here follows his pedigree, to Adam. ' I do not put this forward as
authentic ; but, should any man compile another, I should be still more
fain to call it apocryphal,']

v; II. Now Alfred, when first he began to reign, was wholly given 'to
serve the old man,' and lived a slave to luxury. Led on by kingly sway,
he * yielded his members servants to uncleanness ' . . . and neither bore
about, as a Christian should, nor cared to bear about, any mark of the
sufferings of Christ, but on the contrary. . . .

§ 12. About this time it came to pass, according to the Danish law afore-
told, Rollo and his mates, being turned out from Denmark, sought them
a settlement in other lands ; and on his way raided many an island and
alongshore. Like wolves that rush suddenly from the wood, they would
bring their keels to land, gather great spoil, and aboard again, in full sail,
soon out of sight. Many therefore were the complaints brought before
King Alfred, from the ports and sea places.

§ 13. Thereupon called he his Council, and after taking thought along
with them, came to this rede, that it were better to make peace with Rollo
and his gang ; for how to lead his force against men thus rushing in from
sea, he knew not. Howsoever, he got such peace as he would ; and Rollo
joined by such Danes as were wandering through England with no
certain dwelling-place, set sail, and entered Seine mouth, and, either with
consent of the French or without it, gained there the seat and principality
which his posterity still hold. . . .

vj 14. King Alfred, being chastened with many stripes from the hand of
God and of man, turned from his wonted excess ; and began to repent
also for his past. Therefore went he to St. Neot, a man of holy life,
whose name, by God's goodness, was of renown in the Court, to ask
his counsel. The saint was then near the end of his days ... at
Nedestock, where he had long lived the ascetic life. It is in the furthest
parts of Cornwall, and was called from St. Neot, its first in-dweller . . .
for it was fit rather for wild beasts than for men, till the Saint with his
own hand cut down the thickets and underwood.

§ 15, Sternly did the Saint rebuke him, as was meet, and, having been
taught by Holy Writ to temper harshness with gentleness, he poured in
oil and wine to the sinner's wounds. Thus he so struck fear into him,
that he still gave him hope, and so inspired him with hope that he
wavered not long, declaring to him boldly that the fire of hell was
grievous, and grievous, too, the penance to be enjoined on him who would
escape it. He counselled him, moreover, as he hoped for pardon, to
•charter the English School [at Rome], and, without delay, to send an
embassy thereupon unto our Lord the Pope. All this counsel the King
fulfilled. . . .

^ 16. In the year 878 from the Incarnation of our Lord, and the seventh
of King Alfred's reign, burst there forth, through the working of Danish
law aforetold, a dreadsome plague. King Guthrum. In England landed
he with a vast horde, like in cruelty unto their master and leader, debased

John of Walling ford 193

by all heathen superstition, and brutal beyond even those who had come
before him. For he did not merely, like them, raid the sea-coasts, and
the regions roundabout, and bear off his spoil, and re-embark ; but he
openly harried inland, and burnt down villages, cities, and towns, walls
and all.

§ 17. For in West Anglia and the Midlands the English, from the time
they cast out the Britons, had lived at peace, . . . which itself is no small
incentive to vice, . . . and gave themselves up to sloth and luxury, . . .
eating and drinking, even as the brute beasts. On them therefore came
a brute beast in man's shape, King Guthrum to wit, brutal and ferocious
toward each and all, who with sword and axe wrought his bestial will.
Nay, he spared not even such as threw themselves at his feet. Neither
old nor young, boy nor girl, mother nor maiden, spared he. For his eye
spared none. And piteous was the slaughter that might be seen. There
they lay in each road, and street, and crossway : old men with hoar and
reverend locks, butchered at their own doors ; young men headless,
handless, footless ; matrons foully dishonoured in the open street, and
maidens with them ; children stricken through with spears — all exposed
to every eye and trodden under every foot. Some, too, there lay half burnt
under their half-burnt houses, not having dared to leave them ; for they
who were driven from their hiding-places by the fire perished by the sword.

§ 18. Dark forecastings [rumours], moreover, lacked there not . . . such
as filled even the stout of heart with terror, and drave them to flight.
King Alfred himself, even, was fain the rather to yield to the word of
sooth, than meet this ravening foe, while his own folk were so scattered
and divided. These woes, full well he thought, had come on his
kingdom for his sins, and his people's sins. So he vowed him then to
bear humbly, as indeed he needs must, that yoke of Divine discipline
which St. Neot had foretold should come upon him. He turned his back
therefore, and feared with all wisdom, and fled to good purpose, and came
even unto Athelney, in the utmost parts of the West, which the British
call the Isle of Peers. It lieth in the midst of salt marshes ; but there is
a fair plain within.

§ 19. Hither came he ; and amid the storm of trouble bursting over
him, he took on him that patience which rejoiceth in adversities, and
thus far at least showed himself stout-hearted. . . . Deeply too did he
bear in mind what he had often heard spoken by the saint : ' Mightiest
torments await the mightiest' ; and that word of the Apostle : ' The Lord
scourgeth every son whom He receiveth. ... In a swineherd's hut he
lay hid . . . and awaited patiently the day of consolation, which also St.
Neot had foretold. . . .

[Here follows the story of the cakes, with the addition : ' Patiently did the
King bear her reproaches, putting all down to the account of his penitence.
... " It is as you say," he replied. " I am dull indeed.'' . . . Then
set he himself diligently to the work . . . and gave all his mind to it till
the bread was meetly baked.' . . .]

13

194 Alfred in the Chroniclers

§ 20. In the meantime God looked down upon the humble repentance
of His King, and stretched forth His Holy Hand to free him. For, being
found by a few of his old warriors, they led him to come forth into the open.
There, in a few days, wrought he a fortress strong enough for his end,
and gathered to him many a brave warrior, good at need. So was he
able, through his repentance, to resist the more stoutly. At first, indeed, he
hovered around the foe, and by twilight came upon them, when least looked
for, out of his woods and fastnesses ; but soon in broad daylight, and
openly. When they made any move, well knew he their purpose, and
came upon them ere they might fulfil it. And when he had struck his
blow, he withdrew him into safety. So first cleared he the path to victory ;
then did he make it his own.

§ 21. Those warriors too who had fled the land, when they heard that
King Alfred was once more in the field, with all speed crossed again the
sea, and came to his leaguer ; so day by day grew he stronger, and
closelier harassed the foe. He sent, moreover, messengers to Rollo, who
was ever warring upon the French, ... to come to his aid. And he,
because of the kindness shown him by Alfred, . . . gave up, for that
time, the siege of Paris, whereon he was set, and crossed back to
England. . . . So the King's host grew larger daily. And Guthrum also
gathered no small force, and, careless of the lives of his men, wished only
for the day of battle. But Alfred, though, through the Saint's promise,
assured of victory, yet, like a good shepherd, had regard to his flock, and
waited the day foretold by the Saint for fighting . On the top of a hill
waited he, which he had heedfully taken first, for that it would have been
the very place for the foe, had they but thought of it in time. . . .

[Here follows the victory of Ethandune and the baptism of Guthrum.]

§ 22. With all justice ruled King Alfred his realm, even as St. Neot
counselled him. For he put in writing the laws and right customs of the
Kings before him, and handed them down to them that came after him to
be kept. And many of the laws and customs of the old Britons turned
he into the English tongue. Among these was the Merchene Lea^a
[Mercian Law], set up by a wise and noble British Queen, Marcia [!].
Some too added he of his own, so founded upon justice that none may
find any fault therein. Hence may it be seen how devout was his life,
following the counsel of the Saint and the paths of righteousness.

§ 23. When King Alfred had fulfilled 28 years and a half of his reign,
and 51 of his age, then paid he the debt due by corrupt human nature,
and died in peace, on the 25th of October in the year from the Incarnation
of our Lord 900.

I

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nil iin VM iin nil nil iiu jiiijiiLimini iiiijiii im Jill Jin jimiii jiiLiin Jill. Jill '

XI.

JOHN OF BROMPTON.

JOHN OF BROMPTON was Abbot of Jorvaulx, in
Yorkshire, under Henry VI., and cannot therefore be
the writer of this chronicle, which, from internal
evidence, is of the thirteenth century. It is called by
his name because at the end of the MS. (in the Library of
Corpus Christi College, Cambridge) a footnote states it to be
his {i.e., as owner). The chronicle starts from the mission
of Augustine, and begins with separate outlines of the
histories of Kent, Essex, East Anglia, Wessex, Mercia,
Northumbria, and Sussex, consecutively; going on to deal
with that of 'the Kings of All England,' to the death of
Richard Cceur de Lion. It embodies the Codes of Ina,
Alfred (including his treaty with Guthrum), Edward the
Elder, Athelstan, Edmund, Edgar, Ethelred, and Canute.

This chronicle makes use of Asser, Malmesbury, and
other earlier authorities, but differs so notably in the sequence
of events (especially in the Danish campaigns of Alfred) that
the writer either had access to some independent source, now
lost, or thought himself a historical redactor of the type with
which the Higher Criticism of the present day has familiar-
ized us — equal to rearranging the components of previous
histories through the crucible of his own inner consciousness.
No third explanation is possible ; for he was evidently very
far from a careless writer.

His chronicle is printed by Twysden in his * Decern
Scriptores' (1652).

13—2

196

Alfred in the Chroniclers

I

CONTENTS.

SECTION

I. Of King Egbert.

3. Of King Ethelwulf ; and of the

Danes.

4. Of Peter-pence ; and of the children

of Ethelwulf.

5. Of the fall of East Anglia.

7. Of the fall of Ely.

8. Of the fall of Northumbria ; and of

Nottingham.
Of the fall of Carlisle and Lincoln.
Of King Ethelred.
Of the Danes at Reading.
12. Of the fight at Ashdown.

14. Of the end of Ethelred.

1 5. Of Alfred ; and how he fought in

Sussex.

16. Of the Danes at Exeter.

17. Of the fight at Chippenham.

18. Of the fight at Ethandune.

20. How the Danes won Mercia.

21. Of St. Werburga : and of Rollo.

9-
10.
II.

SECTION

22. Of the dream of Rollo ; and how

he won Normandy.

23. How the Danes overran Wessex.

24. How Alfred drave them out.

25. Of the Danes in France, and at

Rochester.

26. How Alfred built again London,

and sent alms to India.

27. Of Alfred's Abbeys ; and of the

Danes at Chester.

28. Of certain Scots ; and of Plegmund.

29. Of the Danish raids.

30. How the Danish host brake up.

31. Of Alfred in youth.

32. Of his learning.

33. Of old learning in this land.

34. How Universities began here.

37. Of Alfred's infirmity ; and of his

children.

38. Of his laws.

39. Of his death.

/

John of Brompton 197

JOHN OF BROMPTON.

§ I. Having thus in part, though by no means fully, treated of the
Kings and Princes who reigned in British^ days, and had dominion over
diverse provinces (some succeeding by hereditary right, and some coming
into possession through conquest), let us now briefly turn our attention
to those from whom the Kings of all England had their first be-
ginning. And let us go back to the noble and stout warrior Ethel-
brict [Egbert], on whom we have already touched, amongst the Kings of
Wessex..

§ 2. In Wessex was he born and bred, and was a hero mighty and
warlike. But King Brithrich, who then reigned in Wessex, through
jealousy of him, brake forth into such mad hatred that he conspired his
death. But, when he spied the malice of the monarch, he went off into
France, and there dwelt, until the aforesaid King departed this life.
After the death of the King, however, the men of Wessex called him
back into England, and crowned him for their King. Then, gathering
his host, made he no small slaughter amongst the kinglets who stood
against him ; staying not his hand from war for 28 years together.^
These others being at length overthrown, crushed, and subdued, in manly
wise gat he him the sway of ail this realm. And after the warfare was
ended, nine years reigned he in peace ; closing his days in the 38th year
and 6th month of his reign. And his body was brought for burial to
Wynton [Winchester].

§ 3. And thereafter was Ethelwolf, the son of Egbert who, in early
life, had been Bishop of Wynton, forced, for lack of other heirs, to take
upon himself the crown. In his days did Almighty God bring in folk
most cruel, who spared neither age nor sex, Dacians [Danes] to wit, and
Goths, Norwegians and Swedes, Vandals and Frisians, who from the
beginning of this reign, even unto the coming of William, Duke of
Normandy, wasted England.

§ 4. This King Ethelwolf made over to God and Holy Church every
tenth hide of land throughout all Wessex, free from all secular service,^
for feeding and clothing the poor and needy and the sick. Afterwards
he went off to Rome, and made over to God and St. Peter, every year,
from every house in all England, one penny ; which, at this day, are
commonly called Peter-pence. And he himself, of pure and heartfelt
devotion to God, offered the first penny. None the less, did he afterwards,
every year, make over to the Roman Church 300 talents ; to wit, 100 for
the lighting of St. Peter's, 100 for the lighting of St. Paul's, and 100 for

^ This is the earliest example of that loose use of the word ' British,' as equiva-
lent to ' Ancient English,' which in popular use continued even mto the nineteenth
century.

- For the real events here travestied, see Introductory Sketch, Chapter II.

^ I.e.^ rates and taxes.

\

198 Alfred in the Chroniclers

the use of the High Pontiff. And after lingering for a whole year in the
Roman Court, as he returned through France, he took to wife Judith,
daughter of Charles the Bald, of whom he begat five sons, namely,
Ethelbald, his firstborn, Ethelbert, the second, Ethelred, the third, Alured
[Alfred], the fourth, and Adelstan [Athelstan], the fifth, who died in youth.^

§ 5. [The chronicle goes on to tell at great length the occasion of
the Danish conquest of Northumbria, a tale similar to that concerning
the Moorish invasion of Spain (see p. 178) ; and copies from Roger of
Wendover (with acknowledgments, for a wonder) his dramatic version
of the fall of East Anglia and the martyrdom of St. Edmund ; and
continues as follows :]

§ 6. After the slaughter of King Edmund, his brother Edwold, for-
saking the delights of this world, for the ill luck that had befallen his
brother and himself, took upon him the life of a hermit, on bread and
water only, near the monastery of Carnelia [Cerne Abbey] in Dorset, beside
that clear well which, of old, St. Augustine by his prayers made to spring
forth, that he might baptize the folk therein.

§7. And thus was East Anglia brought under the Danes. And
Ingwar returned to his brother Hubbe in Northumbria ; and over East
Anglia reigned first after Edmund a certain Dane named Godrim
[Guthrum]. And on his way back he destroyed the Abbey of the holy
maidens of Ely,^ and the nuns that served God therein did he either
cruelly slay or savagely drive forth. But the aforesaid Godrim was that
Dane who made and sanctioned laws along with King Alfred.

§ 8. Anno Domini 869. The Danes went further, and brought under
all Northumbria, and slew them that dwelt therein. And having there
set wardens, they came into the realm of the Mercians, even unto
Notyngham (which in Latin is called Domus Spehmcaruni)^ and there for
a whole year went into winter quarters. And there did Burred, the King,
or Duke, of the Mercians, meet them, with the support and aid of his
brother in law Ethelred, King of Wessex. And, inasmuch as the
heathen, safe within the stronghold, refused battle, and the English could
not breach the wall, peace was made on either side, and the Kings
deparJed homeward. And the heathen sought again York, where they
remained one whole year.

§ 9. In this year the city Alclud [Carlisle], so renowned of old, which
is at the western end of the famous Wall [of Severus], was utterly blotted
out by the Danes. And afterwards, leaving Mercia and Northumbria,
they came, y^'asting the country, and destroying churches and monasteries,
even unto Lincoln. And having taken and sacked it, and wasted all
Holland and all Lindesey,^ they passed over into East Anglia, and
wintered at Thetford.

^ None of these were children of Judith, and Athelstan was the eldest. See
Introduction, Chapter IV., §§ 4, 9.

^ Ely was actually destroyed in the great Danish raid of 870.
^ These are the southern and northern districts of Lincolnshire.

j

John of Brompton 199

§ 10. Meanwhile the aforesaid Ethelbert, King of the West Saxons,
who less than five years had worn the crown of the whole realm and
reigned, ended this life, and is buried at Winchester. . . . And there-
upon did Ethelred, a man devoted to God and dear to all around, succeed
to the kingdom.

§ II. Meanwhile the heathen host of the Dacians from Thetford,
leaving East Anglia, under the leadership of Ingwar and Hubbe, as
aforesaid, laying waste all towns and monasteries as they went, and
harrying the country far and wide along their path, came into Wessex,
even unto Reading. And there, on the third day of their coming, two of
their chiefs, sallying forth after booty, were cut to pieces at Engelfelde.
And, four' days after, the West Saxons fell upon them, and made of the
Danes no little slaughter. Yet did the Danes burst forth from their
stronghold, and slew Ethelwulf, the Chieftain of Berkshire, and forced
the English to fall back.

§ 12. Stirred by this shame, the English, after four days again, with
their King, Ethelred, made them ready to battle against the Dacian
King, Oseg [Bacgseg] by name, at Asschedon, which, being interpreted,
signifies Ass Hill, or else Ash Hill. Now the King of Dacia had come
with two Kings from overseas, and five Earls, and very many warriors.
And he parted his host in twain ; and the one part kept he for himself
and the other Kings, and the other part gave he to the Earls, Likewise
did King Ethelred part his host in two equal bands ; half kept he for
himself, and the other left he to Alfred his brother. And when
evening drew on, both sides laid them down to rest.

§ 13. But, when the morning was come, while King Ethelred heard his
Mass, Alfred his brother was needs driven to bring up his host into battle.
And so furiously did the Danes charge him, that little lacked there but
that he was put to shame and flight. Then sent he in all haste for King
Ethelred, who was yet hearing his Mass ; and much did his prayer avail
with God. But he, for his part, said Nay, never would he come while his
Mass was unfinished. But when the Mass was duly celebrated, then
hasted the aforesaid King, with all speed, unto the battle. And, albeit
the Danes had seized the higher ground, he, with his Christians, charging
up from beneath, brake his enemies. And with his own hand and spear
slew he King Oseg, like a man, and with the sword girded on his thigh
did he to death yet another King. And on that same day, in that fight,
did the English cut to pieces five Danish earls, with many a thousand
foemen ; and the rest, all that day and all that night, they chased even
unto Reading.

§ 14. Yet, after 15 days, fought they at Basing, and the Danes had the
victory. And thereafter, when two months were run, came they again
together in battle at Merton ; and the English had the worse, and the
Danes the better. And then a certain Danish tyrant, Somerled by name,^

^ A curious misunderstanding of the A.S. Chronicle. 'There came no small
summer-lead to Reading.' See pp. lo, 123, 180.

200 Alfred in the Chroniclers

drawing back from that place to Reading, laid waste there the town and
whatsoever he might find there. Thereafter did Ethelred, King of the
West Saxons, do battle with him ; and, being mortally wounded, died,
after great agony, the 9th Kal. May [April 22] in the fifth year of his
reign. And to Wymborne was he brought for burial.

§ 15. When King Ethelred was dead, Alfred, his brother, who, up to
this time, while his brothers yet lived, held but secondary rank, suc-
ceeded to the whole monarchy of the West Saxons, in the year A.D. 873.
And, as it is written, he, first of all the Kings of England, was anointed
at Rome, by Pope Leo. In this year, when he was but newly raised to
the kingship, did the Danes follow hard upon him, even unto Walton in
Sussex, and there came up to him. And there fought they, and Alfred
left them the field, and fled away to the greenwood. Yet thence did he
pass into Wessex, and there gathered he the whole folk of his own realm,
great and small. And, in short time, so great a force had he, what of
his own men and what of others, that the Danes dared not to meet him
in arms. So came he unto London, where they had sat them down ; and
there they besought of him peace ; and, that they might barely get
back to their own abode, without any betterment, offered they hostages,
such as the English might choose them.

§ 16. Nevertheless, the self-same day that the hostages were taken,
did the Danes depart from London, and ride all night long. And never
drew they rein till they were come even so far as unto Exeter ; and there
took they the city, and abode therein. But when this was noised abroad.
King Alfred hanged first the hostages, and hied him fast unto Exeter
with his host. But the Danes, on hearing of his approach, left the town,
and betook them to Chippenham in Wessex. And there did they many
an evil deed ; for so harried they the land, and so straitened they the folk,
that they drave many a man from his own home.

§ 17. But King Alfred came there upon them, and right stoutly did he
do battle with them. And in that fray was there slain Hubbe, the
brother of Inguar, and Bruern Bocard^ (who first, as has been said,
brought in the Danes from Dacia). And many, on both sides, were there
slain, and, at the last, had the Danes the better ; for King Alfred had
over-hastily made at them, and but small was his strength, and few his
following. So from that field drew he off as best he might. And the
Danes, when they found the corpse of Hubbe amongst the slain, buried
it with mighty wailing, and heaped over it a mound, which they called
Hubbelowe. Whence, to this day, that place is so called ; and it is in
the county of Devon.

1 This name is a corruption of Buzcarl or Butcarl {i.e., boatman), which we find
in Gaimar. The legend was that Bruern, having treacherously murdered a
Danish guest named Lodbroc in East Anglia, was sent adrift in an open boat by
King Edmund. He got safe across the North Sea, and there persuaded the
sons of Lodbroc, Ingwar and Hubba, that Edmund himself was their father's
murderer, afterwards piloting them on their errand of vengeance. Another variant
of the tale will be found on p. 178.

I
i

#

■L

John of Broynpton 201

§ 18. But after that the barons of the county of Somerset, and of
Wilts, and of Dorset, heard of the ill-luck of Alfred their King, they came
together, one and all, to the place where the King was, with a very great
power. And when they saw the King, whom they thought slain by
their foes, in life and safety, they joyed and rejoiced with him ; and took
counsel together to follow up the Danes on the spot. So the King and
the barons, with a very great host, rode after them all that night ; and,
on the morrow, at the ninth hour, came they upon those same Danes,
who, as then, had taken post at Ethandune. And King Alfred and his
men charged them full hotly, and stayed not, but set on ; and harder was
that fray than ought they had known erewhile. But so manfully did the
Danes keep their stand against the English, that no man could judge on
which side was indeed the greater slaughter. And thus the English
(though not without great loss to their foes) were grievously brought low
by 8 battles in one year, and waxed few in number.

§ ig. In this year the English made peace with the Danes, on this
troth, that the Danes should depart from them. Which also they did ;
swearing, moreover, that never would they wage fight or war \belliim aut
gtierra77i\ against him [Alfred] in his own land. And that year wintered
they in London, and the next in Lyndseye ; and the Mercians made peace
with them.

§ 20. But in the third year the Danes brake the peace made with the
Mercians, and passed from Lyndseye to Ripendon [Repton], and drave
out Burred, King of the Mercians. And his kingdom gave they to one
Colwolf, a thane of Burred's, to hold under them ; on this troth, that,
whensoever they would, they should have it again. Thus, three years
after, they divided that realm among them ; and part they gave to
Colwolf (who was also the last of the Mercian Kings). And, after his
death, Alfred, King of the West Saxons, added, first London, and after-
wards all Colwolf's part, to his own kingdom.

§ 21. In the year of the Lord 875, in which the aforesaid Burred, King
of Mercia, was driven out by the Danes, the men of Hambury [Hanbury],
about five miles from Ripendon [Repton], moved by fear, translated
unto Cestria [Chester],^ as unto a place of safety, the body of the holy
virgin Wereburga, which had long been buried there. And in this year
did Rollo, a Dane or Norwegian by race (who, afterwards, conquered
Normandy, and was the first duke there), come to England with his
mates, and started to harry the land. And in battle with the English
were many of his men slain, and the rest ran away.

§ 22. And, at night, as Rollo slept, there seemed him that a swarm of
bees flew quickly over him and his host, and hummed off southward, and

^ Chester was at this time waste (see pp. 43, 129), so that this translation
cannot have taken place at this date. But it is an actual fact that St. Werburga
was so translated, and buried in the south transept of Chester Cathedral, which
is still dedicated to her. She was daughter of Ermenilda, the first Christian
Queen of Mercia, and thus niece to St. Etheldred of Ely.

202 Alfred in the Chroniclers

flew over the mid-sea, and so came to land. And there drew they
together, and settled on the leaves of divers trees, and, in short time,
filled they all that land, and began to bring together unto one place
flowrets of many a hue. Here woke Rollo, and thought on that dream,
and the interpretation thereof. And when he had diligently considered
the thing, he guessed that he might find rest from his toil in those parts
where the bees had settled. So crossed he the sea, and put to shore in
Normandy ; where Franco, Archbishop of Rothomagus [Rouen], having
small faith in his power to resist, besought peace. Having thus gained
the sway, he came to Rouen, and repaired the walls, and built him
castles all about, and gat under him the land of Neustria, which now is
called Normandy, and was made the first Duke there. And afterwards
the aforesaid Archbishop Franco baptized him [see p. 225].

§ 23. King Alfred entered into treaty with the Danes, and hostages
were given. But the Danes, thinking nought of their oaths, one night
slew all the King's horsemen. This stirred the King, and he chased
them even unto Exeter, where again hostages were given, and troth
plighted ; and there stayed they a whole year. But the Danes from
Wareham, in sailing to their friends at Exeter, lost their ships by a storm
at sea. Yet did part of them take the royal town of Chippenham, with
the land thereby ; and many thereabout did they enthral, or else exile.

§ 24. And in this stress, in the year of our Lord 877, the fifth of his
reign, did this same King Alfred, with but few beside him, lead, in the
parts of Somerset, a homeless, restless, life, insomuch that he had nought
whereon to live, save what he might get by raiding, or hunting, or
fishing. . . .

[Here follows the tale of St. Cuthbert (p. 31).]

He built him a stronghold at Ethelynghey [Athelney], which, by
interpretation, is The Isle of Peers. Oft warred he on his foes, and
specially about Selewode (which, being interpreted, is the Great Wood) ;
insomuch that at last he took their noblest as hostages. And Godrim
[Guthrum], the Dacian King, with many another high and mighty
chieftain, did Alfred uplift from the sacred font, giving him the name of
Athelstan, and making unbounded peace with him. So that afterwards
... he and King Alfred stablished laws together. . . .

This same King Alfred, when Tunbert, Bishop of Winchester, died, set
over the see Denewolf, whom, when he was in hiding, he had found in
the woods, a cowherd and layman ; but perceiving his good wit. he made
him, old as he was, to be instructed in letters.

§ 25. In the year 879 (the 7th of Alfred's reign), did the Dacian host
as they had promised him, leave the cities of Chippenham and Ciren-
cester, which are to the south of the Hwiccas,i and betook themselves to
East Anglia. And with the rest of that host there banded them a great
Dacian host from foreign parts, chased out of France by King Charles, at

^ The Hwiccas were the Saxon sept dwelling in Worcestershire and Gloucester-
shire. Tewkesbury is named from them.

^ohn of Brompton 203

Fullenham [Fulham]. And, in that same year, King Alfred repaired the
city of Sepronia, that is Shaftesbury, as witnesseth the great stone which is
yet in the Chapterhouse of the nuns, with its inscription. And the Danes
who returned from France laid siege to Rochester, and built them a work
over against the gate. But the townsfolk withstood them, until Alfred
came upon them, and took the horses of the Danes, and put them to
flight, so that at once they sought again France. Yea, and the King
sent his fleet, all filled with warriors, from Kent to East Anglia, and
took the Danish ships there. Yet in the way back was the royal fleet
worsted. But the Danes, oaring up the water of Seine, laid siege to
Paris. . . .

§ 26. In the 15th year of his reign, this same Alfred, after the many
burnings of the city and massacres of the townsfolk, repaired London,
that men might dwell therein, and made it over to one Ethelred, Chieftain
of the Mercians, along with Elfleda his own daughter. And at that time
all the English that were scattered abroad came, and, with one accord,
did homage to King Alfred. . . . About the same time did the Earl of
Wilton bear to Rome the alms of King Alfred ; and Swithelm, Bishop of
Schireburn [Sherborne] bare the same to St. Thomas in India. And
they came back home unhurt,

§ 27. In the i8th year of his reign, this King Alfred built two famous
monasteries, one at Athelney for monks, and the other at Shaftesbury for
nuns, over which he set his own daughter Elgiva as Abbess. In the same
year the aforesaid King Guthrum, also called Athelstan, died. And in this
year came there against King Alfred four several hosts ; one in North-
umbria, another in East Anglia, a third at Exeter, and a fourth at Leicester
[Chester]. And so straitly were they besieged, that they devoured their
very horses for hunger.

§ 28. In the 2 1st year of King Alfred three men of Scotland, ^ Dublan,
Malicon, and Malinuryn, minding to lead, for Christ's sake, a pilgrim life,
took with them victual for one week, and made them a boat of two hides
and a half, and entered therein. And, in wondrous wise, without sail or
gear, after seven days, came they to shore in Cornwall, and afterwards
went up to King Alfred. And Plegmund, Archbishop of Canterbury, a
right noble man of letters, received his pall from Pope Formosus, and, in
the 22nd year of King Alfred, consecrated he seven bishops in one day.

§ 29. In this year King Alfred, leaving half his host in divers strong-
holds, and with the other half going forth to battle, drave out the Danes
first from Kent, then from Exeter, and, thirdly, from Chichester. Thence
did the Danes come unto the City of the Legions, which in English is
called Chester, where, after three days' siege, by force of hunger they
left the city, and harried North Wales, and thus fetched a compass through
Northumbria to Mersey, an island in Essex, and got back to East Anglia,
where were their wives and their ships. And afterwards, in the winter,
they towed their ships through the Thames into the river of Lea. But

^ I.e.^ Ireland, the original home of the Scots.

204 Alf7^ed in the Chi^oniclers

that host which had besieged Exeter was caught harrying near Chichester,
whereby they lost many of their men, and several ships.

§ 30. But, in the next year, the host which was on the Lea wrought
them a stronghold, 20 miles from London. But the Londoners, by the aid
of Alfred, brake it down, and slew four of their leaders, and divided the
river Lea into three branches, so that their ships could not be brought
out. And when the Danes saw that, they left there their ships ; and
strengthening a certain hold near Brugges [Bridgenorth] on the Severn,
therein wintered. And while King Alfred pursued them with his army,
the Londoners brought round some of the ships forsaken in the Lea to
London, and some they burnt to ashes. So in these three aforesaid years,
since the Danes came in by the harbour of Lymnemouth, the English
underwent no small distress, not only through being infested by these
Dacians, but also by mortality amongst men, and plague amongst cattle.
But, after this, in the fourth year, the Danish host brake up, partly to
Northumbria, partly to East Anglia ; and part crossed the Channel to
Seine-mouth. . . .

[Here follows the naval battle of 897 from the A.S. Chronicle (p. 131).]

§ 31. And here think I it worth while to insert somewhat concerning
this famous King Alfred, with his winsome presence ; of his beginning,
his progress, and his end. Beloved was he by both father and mother
beyond all his brethren; whence he abode in his father's court, up to 12
years of age, without knowing his letters ; though the boy learnt by heart
many a Saxon song. Ever was he foremost in the hunt ; and wrote up
his psalms and prayers in a little book which he ever bare about with him.
Yet but little knew he of Grammar, seeing that in all the West, as at that
time, not one teacher of Grammar could be found.

§ 32. Therefore, by counsel of the blessed Abbot, St. Neot, whom he
oftentimes visited, he founded at Oxford^ public schools of divers Arts,
and granted unto them many privileges. For the same cause also, did
this same great King, the Giver of alms, the Hearer of Masses, the Seeker
into things unknown, call to him Grimbald, a monk of Gaul, well skilled
in letters and in song, and John [Scotus], and Asser, a monk of the Abbey
of St. David in Menevia, in the utmost parts of Wales, that from them he
might learn the more of Letters. His nobles, moreover, so provoked he
to Letters, that, of themselves, did they in turn give over to this study
each man his son, or, if he had no son, then, at least, his thrall. And he
made Werfrith, the Bishop of Worcester, to translate into the Saxon
tongue the book of Boecius De Consolatione Philosophice ^ and the
Dialogues of the Blessed Gregory. Most carefully, moreover, did he look
into the doings of his thanes, and, more especially, his judges ; insomuch
that those whom he found to err through avarice or ignorance, them he
put away from their post.

§ 33. Now, although it has been said above that, in the time of this
King Alfred, in all Wessex was there none who taught Letters, yet, before

1 See Introduction, IX., § 5, p. 47.

John of Broinptoii 205

his time, in other parts of the realm (in the City of Legions, to wit, in
South Wales, now called Karleonn), were there astrologers and philo-
sophers of universal erudition ; as Walter of Monmouth, in his book, The
Coming of Ki)ii^ Arthur^ has shown clearly enough. Afterwards also, in
the time of King Egbert, of Kent, the island was the very home of philo-
sophy.

§ 34. Whence, about that time (as some hold, and as is the common
tale both of ancients and moderns), it is believed that a University^ was
founded, by the Venerable Bede, at Grantecestre near Cambridge.^ And
this may be very likely, because and because \^pro eo et ex eo'\ that after-
wards, in the time of Charlemagne, King of France, Alcuin of England, a
disciple of Bede, well skilled in all Letters, is said to have translated a
University from Rome even unto Paris.^ . . . Also Erpwald,'^ King of
East Anglia, son of King Redwald, set up, with the help of St. Felix,
schools for boys, such as he had seen in Gaul, when in exile there before
he became King.

§ 35. But some there are who say that already, before this time, there
were two Universities in England, one for Latin and the other for Greek :
of which the Grecians founded one at Greek-lade (which is now called
Cricklade), and there for a while taught they the Greek tongue. But the
Latins founded the other at Latin-lade (which is now Lechlade), near
Oxford, and there they taught Latin. . . .

§ 36- [The writer here traces the origin of Universities, through Rome
and Athens, to Egypt, ' where Abraham was the first to teach the
Quadrivium ' (the higher fourfold course of (i) Arithmetic, (2) Geometry,
(3) Harmony, and (4) Astronomy, which succeeded the ' trivial ' study of
Latin Grammar, Logic, and Rhetoric, in the thirteenth century curriculum).
' Under so great a Doctor they made rapid progress in Mathematics,'
and handed on their knowledge to ' Pythagoras, Plato, and the other
philosophers.' He then returns to his subject.]

§ 37. Of this King Alfred it is written, that, when he was a youth, and
would fain stablish his heart in the Commandments of God, but could
not because of the infirmity of his flesh ... he was ever seeking the
temples of the Saints, morning, noon, and night, beseeching God to
scourge him with some thorn in the flesh, which, while not disabling him
for earthly duties, might yet dispose him the more diligently to serve
Him. The Lord granted him ; and such a thorn ... he bare for many
years, wherefrom he endured such misery that he went to Cornwall, and
visited the Church of St. Gueryr, where St. Neot now rests, and prayed
God to assuage, or at least change, his plague. Some, however, say that

1 Studium^ the oldest term for University, which latter name came up in the
fourteenth century. This passage must therefore be of the thirteenth century,
early in which Cambridge was founded.

2 Bede mentions that Cambridge (which he calls Grantchester) was lying
waste in his day ('Eccles. Hist.,' iv. 19).

^ The University of Paris was actually founded early in the twelfth century.
^ A mistake for Sigbert, who reigned 631-637.

/

2o6 Alfred in the Chronicler's

he was cured \ciiratus\ by St. Modwenna,^an Irish virgin. Yet when his
wish was gained, a yet more grievous disease affected him, from his 20th
even to his 45th year. Thus were there born unto him, by Elswitha his
Queen, two sons, Edward, surnamed the Elder, and Ethelward, and
three daughters, Elfleda [Ethelfled], Lady of the Mercians, Elgiva, a
nun, and Elfrida, all of whom he had well taught in the Liberal Arts.

[Here follows Asser's account of Alfred's management of his property
and time.]

§ 38. And, howbeit * amid arms laws be still,' King Alfred, amid all
the clash of weapons, was a law-giver. And he instituted the Centuries,
which men call Hundreds, and the Decuries, which they call Tithings ;
and kept tjie peace amongst his folk ; and so put down thieves, that,
in the cross ways, he bade hang golden bracelets, to mock the greed of
wayfarers, for none dare lay hand on them.

§ 39. Now when this King Alfred had brought all his designs to happy
issue, and for iZ\ years had reigned over all England (save those parts
which were under the Danes), he felt the sting of death at Winchester,
and died ; and there, in the New Monastery, is he buried.

^ St. Modwenna probably lived about a.d. 700. Alfred may possibly have
visited her shrine at Killevy in Armagh. But it is more likely that the tale arose
through a confusion of his name with that of her friend Aldfrid of Northumbria.
(See Arnold-Foster, * Church Dedications,' vol. ii., pp. 157, 385, 415.)

XII.
• THE CHRONICLE OF CROWLAND.

COMMONLY KNOWN AS ' INGULF.'

THIS chronicle was for long believed to be the actual
work of the author in whose name it is written,
Ingulf, the famous Abbot of Crowland, or Croy-
land, under William the Conqueror. Various anachronisms
{e.g., references to Philip Augustus of France, and to the
University of Oxford) have convinced modern critics that it
is a fourteenth-century production. But it is certainly no
mere invention of that century, the writer having used earlier
material. He has, for example, embodied the notice of
Crowland found in Ordericus Vitalis (1112) ; and his account
of the sack of the abbey by the Danes bears every mark of
being also from some contemporary source.

No ancient MS. of this chronicle has survived, though such
are mentioned by the historians of the sixteenth and seven-
teenth centuries. It was edited by Saville, 1596, and by Gale
a century later. A translation is given in *The Church
Historians of England.'

The following are the extracts given :

1. Of Bertulf, Kitijr of Mercia.

2. Of Ethelwulf, King of Wessex.

3. Of Ethelbald his son.

4. Of the Danes at NoUingham.

5. Of the Danes in Lindesey.

6. How Earl Algar fought with

Danes.

the

SECTION

II. How the Danes sacked Crowland
and Peterborough.

21. How the Danes sacked Ely.

22. Of Burghred, King of Mercia.

23. Of King Alfred in Athelney.

24. Of Ceolwulf, King of Mercia.

25. Of the goodness of King Alfred,

and of his death.

2o8 Alfred in the Chroniclers

THE CHRONICLE OF CROWLAND.

vj I. [a.d. 838] Bertulf succeeded to the kingship [of Mercia], and
reigned 13 years. ... A wicked man he was, and, as he passed through
Crowland, laid hands on all the many jewels wherewith . . . other Kings
of Mercia had adorned that holy church — yea, and on all the money he
could find in the monastery. Therewith raised he a force to war against
the Danes, who, as then, were ravening around London. And by these
Heathen was he worsted and put to flight, [a.d. 850. See p. 86.] . . .

[Here follows a spurious charter of King Bertwulfs.]

§ 2. [a.d. 855] God wrought a signal miracle to the glory of His holy
Confessor, St. Guthlac [the founder of Crowland, A.D. 714] ... so that the
Abbot Siward . . . having been tried, like the blessed Job, by deepest
poverty, and despoiled of his whole Abbey treasure, even unto the uttermost
farthing . . . received the double for all his loss. . . . His old age,
moreover, became still more prosperous by yet another means. For
Ethelwulf, the far-famed King of the West Saxons, being but newly come
back from Rome (whither he had gone, in deep devotion, along with
Alfred, his youngest son, to visit the threshold of the Apostles Peter and
Paul, and His Holiness Pope Leo) . . . then first endowed the whole
Church of England with the tithes of all the land . . . by charter. [Here
follows the charter, again spurious.] And this charter did King Ethel-
wulf, for the more surety, offer upon the altar of Peter the Apostle.
And the Bishops . . . sent it to every church in each diocese to be
published.

§ 3. This year Bertulf King of the Mercians, after a reign of thirteen
years, died, and after him Burghred took the kingdom. ... At this
time Ethelwulf, King of the West Saxons, likewise died, and his sons,
Ethelbald and Ethelbert, shared the kingdom between them. The first
of these . . . took to wife his own stepmother, Judith . . . wherethrough
all folk were overcome with abhorrence at such enormity of wicked-
ness. After two years thus wallowing in the mire he died, and Ethel-
bert . . . undauntedly, for five years, held the kingdom. Then was
Ethelred, the third brother, raised to the throne.

§ 4. In his days waxed the woes of warfare utterly unbearable. On
every side the Heathen burst in. Northumbria had they raided, had
taken York, had harried East Anglia, had fallen upon Mercia ; and at
Nottingham were they now wintering, in the year of our Lord 866 [868].
Against them did King Burghred raise a great force, and, being
strengthened also by that of Ethelred, King of the West Saxons, and his
brother Alfred (for he had wedded their sister), he made the Heathen to
quit Nottingham and go back unto York. In this campaign did Earl
Algar the Younger show himself a mighty man of valour, and thereby
was held in high honour of King Burghred and his brethren of Wessex.
Good friend, moreover, was he to our Abbey of Crowland. . . .

The Chronicle of Crowland 209

§ 5. But in the next year after [869], as soon as winter was gone, the
Heathen host crossed over by ship into Lindesey [Northern Lincolnshire]
. . . and laid waste all that land. Now harried they the monastery of
Bardney, of old renown, and slew every monk there in the church, without
pity. All that summer consumed they the land to ashes ; and, about
Michaelmas, entered Kesteven [South-western Lincolnshire] ; and wasted,
and slew, and gave unto the flames all that was therein.

§ 6. At length, in the year of the incarnation of our Lord 870, in the
month of September . . . there gathered together unto Earl Algar the whole
youth of Holland [South-eastern Lincolnshire], along with a band from
Crowland Abbey, 200 sturdy warriors, . . . led on by Tolius, a lay
brother of that House, who, before his conversion, had been a champion
of fame throughout all Mercia. . . . Beside these there gathered also,
from Deeping, Langtoft, and Boston, some 300 valiant men, and, over
all, Morcar, Lord of Bourn, with his household, many and brave. The
Sheriff of Lincoln, also, Osgot by name, came in with the men of Lincoln,
500 strong. All these gat them together unto Kesteven ; and, on the
Feast of St. Maurice the Martyr [September 22], waged battle against the
Heathen. And, by the gift of God, theirs was the victory. Three Kings
of the foemen were there slain, and of the Host an untold number, and
the Christians chased and cut down the savages even to the doors of
their tents. There did the Danes make a desperate stand ; and nightfall
put an end to the fight, and the victorious Earl drew off his army.

§ 7. Throughout that night came there into the Heathen camp from
the country round (whither they had raided forth, each in his allotted
share) all the rest of their Kings — Guthrum, to wit, and Baseg, and
Oskytel, and Halfdene, and Hammond ; and the like number of Earls —
Frena, to wit, and Ingwar, and Hubba, and the two Sidrocs, elder and
younger ; along with their hosts, and untold spoil, and many a [captive]
woman and many a child. No sooner was their coming known, than the
most of the Christians fled away, panic-stricken, that same night, and of
8,000 men there abode with Earl Algar but 2,000. Yet were all of these
ready to die for Christ and Country ; they heard Divine Service, they
received the Holy Viaticum ; and, at dawn, went they forth into the field.

§ 8. The dauntless Earl, seeing his army in evil case, placed brother
Tolius and his 500 on the right, as before . . . giving him also . . .
Morcar of Bourn with his followers. Osgot, the renowned Sheriff of
Lincoln, placed he on the left, . . . with Harding of Ryhall, and all the
men of Stamford ; and a brave and warrior youth they were. Mad were
the Danes at the slaughter of their men ; and very early in the morning
they buried their three Kings in the town which of yore was called
Laundon, but now, from these same three Kings, is called Threekingham
[between Sleaford and Bourn].

§ 9. So few were the Christians that they drew together and formed
one troop, in shape like unto a wedge, and all day long stood they firm
and still, holding their firm wall of shields against the foemen's arrow-

14

2IO Alfred in the Clu^oniclers

flight, and their dense line of spears against the wild charges of the horse.
So stood they unbroken even until nightfall ; spent were the foemen's
shafts ; worn out were their horsemen with long toils. Then, at an
afore-planned signal, made they as though to flee, and turned them from
the field. Whereon the Christians, at this sight, despite of the word of
command, and all that their leaders could do or say, broke line, and
scattered all over the field, chasing the Heathen, in unordered throng,
and leaderless.

§ lo. Then did the savages turn again, and fell upon them, even as
raging lions upon sheep. . . . But, when the valiant Earl Algar and the
above-named leaders saw that the best of their army were fallen, then
made they one dash all together to where the Christian corpses lay
heaped up the thickest. And there to the uttermost of their strength
avenged they their blood on all who drew nigh ; till at length, pierced with
countless wounds, upon the bodies of their brethren fell they, one and all.
Hardly did a few young men of Sutton and of Gedney make off, casting
away their arms, to a neighbouring wood, and in the following night
came unto the monastery of Crowland. There found they Theodore the
Abbot and his convent at Mattins,^ and even while the office was saying,
entered they the church door, and with weeping and wailing told their
tidings — how that the Christians were slaughtered, and brother Tolius
with them, and all his whole band utterly cut off.

§ II. At this news all was confusion. And the Abbot, keeping with
himself the oldest of the monks, and a few of the children [of the Abbey
School] . . . bade all those in their prime to take along with them the
sacred relics of the monastery (namely the holy body of St. Guthlac, his
scourge, and his psalter), and the other chief treasures, . . . and thus to
flee into the neighbouring fens. . . . With sorrow of heart did they his
bidding, and, having laden a boat with the aforesaid relics and the
charters of the Kings, they cast into the cloister well the frontal of the
High Altar (which was covered with plates of gold), along with ten
chalices . . . and other vessels. But the end of the frontal, so long was
it, always showed above the water ; whereupon they drew it out and left
it with the Abbot ; for ever could they see the flames of the towns in
Kesteven draw nigher and nigher, and feared lest the Heathen should on
a sudden burst in upon them. So took they boat, and came unto the
wood of Ancarig [Thorney], on the southern march of their islet. And
here abode they with Brother Toretus. an anchorite, and other brethren,
then dwelling there, four days, thirty in all, of whom ten were priests.
But the Abbot, and two old men with him, hid the aforesaid frontal
outside the church, to the north ; and afterwards he and all the rest, clad
in their sacred vestments, met in choir, and kept the Hours of Divine
Service according to their Rule. And the whole of the Psalms of David
went they through from end to end. After this sang they High Mass,
the Abbot himself being Celebrant. . . .

^ The Midnight Service of the Breviary.

The Chronicle of Crowland 2 1 1

§ 12. Now, when the Mass was drawing to an end, and the Abbot and
his deacon and subdeacon and the taper-bearers had already communi-
cated in the Holy Mysteries, came the Heathen bursting into the church.
And upon the very Altar, by the cruel hand of King Oscytel, was the
venerable Abbot himself sacrified, a true martyr and victim of Christ.
All they who stood round and ministered with him were beheaded by the
savages ; and the aged men and children, as they fled from the choir,
were taken and questioned under the bitterest tortures, to make them
show the treasures of the church. Dom^ Asker, the Prior, was slain in
the vestry, and Dom Lethwyn, Sub-prior, in the refectory. Behind him
there followed close Brother Turgar,^ a ten year child, shapely, and of a
fair countenance ; who, when he saw his superior slain, besought earnestly
that he too might be slain with him. But Earl Sidroc the Younger,
touched with pity for the lad, stripped him of his cowl, and gave him a
Danish cloak [collobio\ bidding him follow everywhere his steps. And
thus, out of all who abode in the monastery, old and young, he alone was
saved ; coming and going amongst the Danes throughout all his sojourn
amongst them, even as one of themselves, through this Earl's favour and
protection.

§ 13. Now when all the monks had been done to death by the torturers,
and no whit of the Abbey treasures shown thereby, the Danes, with
spades and ploughshares, brake open right and left all the sepulchres of
the Saints round about that of St. Guthlac. On the right was that of
St. Cissa, priest and anchorite, and of St. Bettelin, a man of God, erst an
attendant on St. Guthlac, and of Dom Siward [the Abbot] of blessed
memory. And on the left was that of St. Egbert, St. Guthlac's scribe
and confessor, and of St. Tatwin, the pilot who guided St. Guthlac to
Crowland. . , . All these did the savages burst open, looking to find treasure
therein. And finding none, they were filled with indignation ; and piling
up all these holy bodies on an heap, in piteous wise, they set fire to them,
and, on the third day after their coming, that is to say, on the 7th of the
Kalends of October [September 25], they utterly consumed them, church
and monastery and all.

§ 14, But on the fourth day off they went, with countless droves of
beasts and pack-horses, to Medehampstead [Peterborough]. And there,
dashing at the outer precinct \j)rima7n collectain\ of the monastery, with
its barred gates, they assailed the walls on every side with arrows and
machines. At the second assault the Heathen brake in, and in the very
breach Tubba, the brother of Earl Hubba, fell grievously wounded by a
stone cast. By the hands of his guards he was borne into the tent of
Hubba his brother, and despaired even of life. Then did Hubba's rage
boil over, and he was altogether wild against the monks, so that he slew
with his own hand every soul clad in the religious habit ; the rest sprang
upon the rest ; not one in the whole monastery was saved ; both the

^ Dominus is thus abbreviated amongst Benedictines.
^ This name appears in Thurgar-ton, Northamptonshire.

14 — 2

212 Alfred in the Chi^oniclers

venerable Abbot Hedda, and all his monks, and all the lay-brethren
\comprimoti\ were massacred ; and Brother Turgar was warned by his
master Earl Sidroc never anywhere to cross the path of Earl Hubba.
Every altar was uprooted \suffoss(i\ every monument broken in pieces,
the great library of holy books burnt, the plenteous store of monastic
papers scattered to the winds ; the precious relics \J)iiinora\ of the holy
virgins Kineburgh, Kinswith, and Tibba,^ trodden under foot; the walls
utterly overthrown ; the buildings burnt up, church and all, blazing with
a bright flame for five whole days after.

§ 15. Then on the fourth day the Host drew together, with spoil
beyond tale from all the country round, and set off towards Huntingdon.
The two Sidroc Earls, at the crossing of the rivers, ever came last, to
guard the rear \cauda7}i\ of the whole army. Now all their host had
passed over the river Nene safely ; but as they were themselves crossing
they had the bad luck to lose two carts, laden with untold wealth and
plenishing, which sank in a deep eddy of the stream to the left of the
stone bridge, so that horses and all were drowned before they could be
got out. And while the whole household of Earl Sidroc the younger was
busied in drawing out these same carts, and in transferring the spoil to
other waggons and carriages, Brother Turgar slipped away and fled to
the neighbouring forest. All night did he walk, and, with the earliest
dawn, came into Crowland. There he found his fellow monks, who had
got back from Thorney the day before, and were hard at work putting
out the fires which still had the mastery in many of the ruins of the
monastery.

§ 16. And when they saw him safe and sound they were somewhat
comforted ; but on hearing from him where their Abbot and the other
Superiors and Brethren lay slain, and how all the sepulchres of the
Saints were broken down, and all the monuments, and all their holy
books and all the sacred bodies burnt up, all were stricken with grief un-
speakable ; and long was the lamentation and mourning that was made.
Satiated at length with weeping they turned again to putting out the con-
flagration. And when they raised the ruins of the church roof about the
High Altar, they found the body of their venerable father and abbot
Theodore, beheaded, stripped, half-burnt, and bruised and crushed into
the earth by the fallen timbers. This was on the eighth day after his
murder, and a little away from the spot where he was slaughtered. And
the other ministers, who fell with him, found they in like manner, crushed
into the ground by the weight of the beams — all save Wulfric the
taper-bearer.

§ 17. But not all at once. For the bodies of some of the Brethren
were not found till half a year after their martyrdom, and not in the
places where they were slain. For Dom Paulinus and Dom Herbert, very

1 Kineburgh and Kinswith were sisters of Wulfhere, the first Christian King of
Mercia. Tibba is usually identified with St. Ebba of Coldingham, but more
probably was a local saint.

The Chronicle of Crozaland 2 1 3

old men, and decrepit, whose hands were cut off and themselves tortured
to death in the Choir, were found, after diligent search, not there but in
the Chapterhouse. In like manner Dom Grimketyl and Dom Egmund,
both some hundred years old, who had been thrust through with swords
in the Cloister, were found in the Vair\om[locutoriu7?i\. And the rest too,
both children and old men, were sought for in divers places, even as
Brother Turgar told just how each had been slain ; and at last were all
found, with many a doleful plaint and many a tear, save Wulfric only.
And Dom Brickstan, once the Precentor of the monastery, a most skilful
musician and poet, who was amongst the survivors, wrote on the ashes
of Crowland that Lament, which is so well known, and begins thus :

* Desolate how dost thou sit, who late wast Queen among Houses ;
Church so noble of old ; erst so beloved of God.'

[Quomodo sola sedes, dudum regina domorum
Nobilis ecclesia, et nuper arnica Dei.]

§ 18. Now when the monastery, after long and hard work, was cleared
out, and cleansed, so far as was then possible, from filth and ashes, they
took counsel on choosing them a Pastor ; and when the election was
held, the venerable Father Godric, though much against his will, was
made Abbot. To him came that venerable old man Toretus, the Prior
of Thorney, and his Subprior, Dom Tissa, both anchorites of the utmost
sanctity. And devoutly they prayed him that he would deign to take with
him certain Brethren and come to Peterborough, and give, of his charity,
Christian burial to the bodies of their Abbot and the other Brethren,
which yet remained unburied and exposed to beasts and birds. The
Abbot gave heed unto their prayer, and with many of the brethren
(amongst them Brother Turgar) came unto Peterborough, where all the
Brethren of Thorney met him. And with much labour the bodies of all
the monks of that monastery were got together, 84 by tale, and buried in
one wide grave in the midst of the Abbey cemetery, over against what
was once the East End of the Church. This was on St. Cecilia's day
[November 22].

§ 19. And over the body of the Abbot, as he la}' amid his children, he
placed a three-sided stone, three feet high, and three long, and one
broad, bearing carved likenesses of the Abbot, and his monks standing
around him. And this stone, in memory of the ruined abbey, bade he
thenceforward be called Medehampstead. And once in every year, while
he lived, did he visit it ; and, pitching his tent above the stone, said
Mass for two days with instant devotion for the souls of those there
buried.

§ 20. Through the midst of that cemetery there ran the King's high-
way [via regici\ ; and this stone was on the right thereof, as one comes
up from the aforesaid stone bridge towards Holland ; and on the left
stood a stone cross bearing a carven image of the Saviour ; which our
Abbot Godric then set there, to the intent that travellers who passed by

2 14 Alfi'cd in the Chroniclers

might be mindful of that holy Abbey, and pray to the Lord for the souls
of the Faithful who lay in that cemetery. . . .

§ 21. Meanwhile the Heathen harried the whole district, even unto
Cambridge, and gave to the flames the far-famed Abbey of nuns in the
island of Ely, after cruelly slaying all they found therein, both maidens
and men, and sharing amongst their savage hordes the cattle and the
untold wealth brought in thither for safety from all the country
round. . . .

[Here follows a short notice of the fall of East Anglia and the death of
St. Edmund ; also of the invasion of Wessex and the Battle of Ashdown.]

§ 22. Meanwhile Burghred, King of Mercia was engaged with the
Britons, who were harrying the West of his realm by raid after raid. But
when he heard of the cruel mischief the Danes had wrought him in the
East, then came he soon to London, and gathered a mighty host, and
passing through the eastern part of his kingdom, seized for his privy
purse the whole Isle of Ely . . . and all the lands of Peterborough
Abbey. And the outlying portions he gave to his mercenaries. And so
did he with the lands of the Abbey of St. Pega at Peakirk, and even
those of St. Guthlac at Crowland ; some gave he to his mercenaries,
and some confiscated he for himself. . . . And passing with his army
into Lindesey, he did the like with the wide tract lately belonging to
Bardney Abbey. . . .

§ 23. [The death of Ethelred is here mentioned, and the accession of
Alfred,] the youngest brother, who had erst gone to Rome with his
father, and was there anointed by Pope Leo. . . . For nine years on end
warred he against the Danes . . . and at length was brought to such a
strait that he fled to a certain islet in Somerset. . . . Here was he once
left alone at home (having sent forth his whole household to fish in the
neighbouring fens), engaged (as was ever his wont) either in holy reading,
or in recording deeds of fame or the annals of his forefathers, when he
heard a poor man knocking at the door and asking aid for God's pity. Then
called he to his mother,^ who was then staying with him and chanced to
be at hand, and bade her go to the cellar, and, for Christ's love, get some-
thing for this poor Christian soul. And when she went about to do this
bidding, she found in the cellar but one loaf, and told him that was not
nearly enough for his own household on their return from fishing. But
when the King heard this, devoutly thanked he God, and bade the half
be at once given to Christ's poor ; adding: ' Blessed be the Lord in His
gifts. He is able, if He will, to multiply this half loaf without measure ;
for, when He would, he could feed with five loaves and two fishes five
thousand men.' . . .

[The vision of St. Cuthbert follows, with the story of Alfred, as a
minstrel, spying on the Danes ; the victory of Ethandune ; and the
baptism of Guthrum, * to whom the King, as his Godfather, gave East

^ I.e., his wife's mother (see Asser, § 32). His own mother had been dead for
years.

The Chronicle of Crow land 215

Anglia, that is, Norfolk.' Next we read of the destruction by the Danes
of the Abbey of Repton, 'that far-famed burial-place of all the Kings of
Mercia' ; and of the exile and death of Burghred.]

§ 24. Him there followed in the kingship one of his thanes, Ceolwulf
set up by the Danes, of English blood, but impious as any savage. For
he had sworn to the Danes that he would truly pay such tribute as they
laid on him, and would give up quiet and peaceable possession of the
kingdom whensoever they demanded it. Therefore all about the land
did he flay the few surviving rustics, swallow up the tradesmen, oppress
widows and orphans, and torture in divers manners the religious, if
perchance they knew of treasure. . . . Even on the venerable Abbot
Godric of Crowland and his miserable brethren did he lay a tax oi £ifiQO^
and all but brought the monastery to nothing. . . . For the Abbot,
unable to support his monks, dispersed most of them abroad, to their
relatives and other friends of the Abbey ; and the few who abode with
him dragged on their lives in the utmost need. Then were all the
chalices of the Abbey, save three, and all the silver vessels (save the
Crucibolmn of King Withlaf),i and the other precious jewels \^jocalia\
either melted down into money or sold for money. And even so, scarce
did it stay the ravenous glut of this petty kinglet Ceolwulf. He, however,
at the last was deposed by his Danish masters (who herein for once did
justice), and stripped stark naked, thus coming to a wretched end.

§ 25. [Alfred's defensive measures are next spoken of, his rule of life,
and his literary work. After this we read of his political system, with its
Hundreds, etc. ; ' and the chief officers of the provinces, who were of old
called Lord-Lieutenants \yicedomini\ he made into two, namely Judges
(whom we call Justices), and Sheriffs, who still bear that name.' The
threefold division of his household is said to be, ' after the wit of David
and Solomon.' His final victories of 894 are barely touched upon.]

Thus King Alfred the Alms-doer, who ever set his feet in all good ways,
died, and was buried at Winchester.'

^ King of Mercia, 826. What his crucible can have been is quite unknown.
The word is connected not with cross but crock.

XIII.
'THE BOOK OF HYDE.'

THIS book is a conglomerate of materials of various
dates, put together in its present form probably
towards the end of the fourteenth century, by some
monk of Hyde Abbey (founded by Alfred). Some of these
materials, e.g., the letter of Fulco, Archbishop of Rheims, to
Alfred, may well be genuine ; and the floating traditions of
the House concerning its Founder, here given, are interesting.
The work begins with the Saxon conquest of Britain, and
ends with the death of Edward the Elder.

No ancient MS. is known, nor has it ever been printed in
full ; but copious extracts are given by Griffith in his 'Annals
of the Anglican Church ' (1663) ; and a translation may be
found in * The Church Historians of England.'
The extracts here given are as follows :

SECTION

I. Of King Ethelvvulf the Monk.

3. Of Ethelvvulf and Alfred at Rome.

5. Of St. Modwenna.

6. Of King Alfred.

8. How Alfred sent for Grimbald.

9. What Archbishop Fulco wrote to

Alfred

SECTION

13. How Grimbald came to England,
and of his discourse.

16. Of Alfred's schools.

17. Of his laws.

18. Of his valiancy.

20. Of his death and burial.

21. Of his son Edward.

The Book of Hyde' 217

'THE BOOK OF HYDE.'

§ I. The illustrious Prince Egbert made over his son Athulf or Ethel-
wulf to be educated by Helmstane, the venerable prelate of the royal
city of Winchester, by whose precepts his kingly heart was so bent that
he gave up earthly royalty to win him a crown everlasting. Then was he
advanced to the subdiaconate, and at Winchester received the monastic
tonsure, and was placed under St. Swithun, then Provost of the Old
Monastery there. Thus when the glorious Prince Egbert . . . rested in
the Lord, in a good old age, ... he left the kingdom without an heir,
save for fhis son Ethelwulf, the humble and devoted monk, vowed unto
the Lord.

§ 2. England . . . thus lacking a ruler, the Lords and Bishops of the
realm strove, with all their wit, to find him whom they might choose over
them. And He who aideth His servants who call upon Him in their
need, put it into their heart to set up as King, with the Apostolic dis-
pensation, this very Ethelwulf, monk and subdeacon as he was.
Instantly was an envoy sent to the Blessed Pope Leo,i to ask that . . .
he might be crowned. And the Supreme Pontiff, considering how great
and rueful would be the peril of England, if the Royal lineage were
broken off, . . . bade them take Ethelwulf to King, dispensing him,
under his own hand, from the subdiaconate, and from his vow of Religion.

§ 3. Being thus raised to the throne, he took Alstan, Bishop of
Sherborne, as his chief counsellor in affairs of state ; but, in Church
matters, St. Swithun ; by whose counsel he made over to the Anglican
Church a tenth of all his land for ever. . . .

[Here follows a laudation of the miracles worked by St. Swithun.]

§ 4. This same Ethelwulf had, by his wife Osburga, four famous sons,
all, in turn, to reign after him ; Ethelbald, Ethelbert, Ethelred, and
Alfred, whom he loved beyond all the rest, and sent unto Pope Leo . . .
to be anointed King of the English. . . . And this Ethelwulf repaired,
at great cost, the Saxon School, which Ina, King of the West Saxons,
had endowed. There also, seeing certain exiles doing public penance
in chains, he obtained from the Pope that no English pilgrim should ever
so do penance. And for this granted he a penny to St. Peter, year by
year, from every dwelling house in his realm ; besides three hundred
marks yearly as Rome-scot.

[Here follows the marriage of Judith, and the rebellion of Ethelbald,
abridged from Asser.]

§ 5. Ethelwulf also sent his most Christian and best-beloved son, then
sick of an incurable disease, to be healed by St. Modwenna, in Ireland.
Later, when her church in Ireland was laid waste, Ethelwulf gave unto
Modwenna ... a convent at Polesworth, which flourisheth even to this

^ Gregory IV. was really Pope at Egbert's death.

2i8 Alfred in the Chroniclers

day. And here abode St. Osyth, . . . and St. Edith, sister of King
Ethehvulf.i . . .

[The reign of Ethelbald, Ethelbert, and Ethelred, ' whom Alfred, for
his goodness, loved beyond all his brethren,' are next touched upon, and
thus we reach the accession of Alfred.]

v^ 6. King Alfred, that devoted, faithful, and pious Christian, now
succeeded to the West Saxon kingship. Comely was he in presence,
and . . . one of a thousand ; sprung of British stock, and of noble Trojan
blood.- . . . [This assertion is founded on a long pedigree, not wholly
the same as that in Asser, tracing Alfred to Woden, ' from whom the fourth
day of the week is in the vulgar tongue \barbare\ called Wodennsday,
and his wife Free, from whom the sixth day is called Freeday.' Nine
generations earlier we come to ' Ebranc,' who built the city of York.] . . .
Foremost was he in the hunt ; peerless as an architect ; and ever bare he
with him a volume which he called his Manual or Hand-book, wherein he
had brought together Psalms and Prayers.

§ 7. Oft sought he to Neot the Abbot, and, by his counsel, set up public
Schools of Arts. . . . Also called he to his court Grimbald, a monk
skilled in Letters and Music, from France . . . and John [Scotus] . . .
and Asser . . . from the ends of Wales ... to ' teach his Senators
wisdom ' (Ps. civ. 22).

§ 8. For in the year of the Incarnation of our Lord 886 . . . the
renowned King Alfred, having miraculously routed the Danes . . . gat
the whole sway over all England. Then did it weigh upon his heart how
Holy Church lay waste ; priests murdered, monks cast forth, nuns dis-
honoured, ministers driven out ; so that soon would the Christian Faith
itself perish, and none be left to partake of the Sacred Mysteries. So
thought he on that spiritual bond of friendship wherein he had entered,
as a boy, with St. Grimbald ... of the Monastery of St. Bertin, where
[on his way to Rome in 853] ... he had daily sat at the feet of this best
of teachers. . . . Thus came it to pass that ... he spake of this holy
man to Ethelred, Archbishop of Canterbury, . . . and both King and
Bishop . . . sent over-sea ... to pray the Abbot of St. Bertin he would
send them Grimbald ... to found a new monastery in the City of
Winchester. . . . Messengers also did they send to Fulco, Archbishop
of Rheims . . . who sent back this letter :

§ 9. ' Fulco, Archbishop of Rheims, Primate of the Franks, Legalus
Natus of the Apostolic See, servant of the servants of God, to Alfred the
Most Christian King of the English, wisheth ever both sway and triumph
here, and the eternal joys of the Heavenly Kingdom.

' Since from our See, over which presideth St. Remigius,^ the Apostle

^ St. Modwenna and her pupil St. Osyth of Sussex seem to have dwelt for
awhile at Polesworth, but in the seventh century (see p. 206) St. Edith, sister to
King Athelstan, was there in the tenth century.

'^ See John of Wallingford, § 6 (p. 190).

3 Archbishop of Rheims circa 530, for seventy years.

' The Book of Hyde ' 219

of the Franks, ye ask for counsel . . . this is not done without Divine
impulse. And as of old the Frankish race learnt from St. Remigius . . .
to worship the one true God, ... so now doth the English nation seek
to obtain from his See . . . one by whom they may be taught to avoid
superstition . . . and violation of custom, . . . and may learn, in the
Garden of the Lord, to pluck the flowers and to watch against the snake.

§ 10. ' For St. Augustine, the first Bishop of your race, sent forth by
your Apostle, St. Gregory . . . thought not well to burden a barbarous
folk with new and strange doctrines, for he knew how to say with the
Apostle, / have given yoic milk to drifik, and not meat, seeing ye are babes
in Christ {i Cor. ii. 2). . . . But, as time went on, Holy Church felt it
neither her wish nor her duty to be content with this, . . . nor deemed it
needless more thoroughly to edify the faithful, . . . whether she were
stimulated by adversity or fostered by prosperity. . . .

'Hence the frequent calling of Councils, . . . hence sacred Canons,
framed and hallowed by the Holy Ghost, ... to be ignorant of which is,
in cleric and priest above all, nothing short of wicked. Seeing this, . . .
it hath seemed fit to Your Majesty ... to consult our insignificance, and
to seek to the See of St. Remigius, which . . . hath ever excelled all the
Churches of Gaul ... in doctrine.

§ II. 'And since ye would not appear before us . . . empty-handed,
... ye have sent us a gift of well-bred dogs, ... to drive away the
wolves wherewith . . . our land aboundeth ; asking of us in return
to send you certain watch-dogs, . . . not Dumb dogs, unable to bark
[Is. Ivi. 10], but such as the Psalmist speaketh of, That the tongue of thy
dogs may be red [Ps. Ixviii. 23], who . . . may drive away those fell
wolves, the unclean spirits, who devour souls. And, in especial, ye ask
Grimbald, ... to whom the whole church beareth witness from his child-
hood. . . . Not without deep sorrow (forgive us for the word) ... do
we suffer him to be torn from us.

§ 12. 'But as Charity knoweth nought of loss, nor Faith of harm, and
no distance can indeed part those whom unfeigned love bindeth in one,
... we grudge him not to you. . . . For we know that . . . the
Catholic and Apostolic Church is One, whether it be at Rome, or beyond
the sea.'

§ 13. Thus did Grimbald, after the example of the patriarch Abraham,
depart from his country and his father's house, and come into England,
where he became a great nation ... of many spiritual children. And
they received him ... as an angel of God. And King Alfred . . . called
together at London, which is the metropolis of the whole island, a
Council of the Bishops and Abbots and the best of all England. And
when they met there, old and young, then sang they anthems to Christ,
and took sweet counsel together. And with grave dignity did the holy
Grimbald speak unto them thus :

§ 14. [Here follows Grimbald's sermon on ' the eight prime sources of
pollution' (Pride, Gluttony, Drunkenness, Impurity, Robbery, Murder,

2 20 Alfred in the Chi^o^iiclers

Lying, and Avarice), and the ' eight chief virtues contrary to them.' His
exordium dwells on the creation by God of all things, visible and invisible,
' such as angels, who, if we live well, shall be our fellow-citizens. . . .
And us He made after His own image and similitude ; wherefore we
ourselves are not able to comprehend ourselves. ... If we discern not
this excellence of our nature, then shall we be lower than the beasts.
For in each one of us are these two things, Will and Power.' . . .]

^ 15. Wheti the folk heard these words . . . then hasted they to
penance, and that with good v/ill, . . . in confessing their sins, in correct-
ing what they had done amiss, ... in temperance, and in abstaining
from dainties, . . . resolved to trample down all bodily vanities, and to
embrace the joys of Paradise. Then did they alms, which is the glory of
the pitiful, and in patience possessed they their souls, and prayed, saying,
'Forgive us our debts,' . . . dedicating themselves to Christ the Lord. . . .

§ 16. [Alfred's objurgation of illiterate magistrates is here given, from
Asser, and his fabulous schools at Oxford, whither he is made to decree
that his nobles should send their sons, ' or even their thralls, such as show
promise of talent. And if so, let them be free.' (This last clause may
possibly enshrine a historical truth.) ' The University of Oxford was of
old outside the North Gate of the city, and the Church of St. Giles-
without-the-Gate was that of the clerks. But now it is within the walls,
and its church is that of St. Mary. And this change was made in the 28th
year of the reign of King Edward, the third after the Conquest,^ in 1354.']

§ 17. After this the Most Christian King Alfred issued an ordinance
to be observed throughout his whole realm, which was called West-
Saxona-Laga.'^ And he parted it all into Shires, and the Shires into
Hundreds. And these Laws St. Edward [the Confessor], the son of
Ethelred and Emma, ratified . . . And to this day be they called the
Laws of St. Edward. . . ^

§ 18. [Here follows a list of early English law terms, with interpreta-
tions in Latin and French. The book goes on to touch on Alfred's literary
work, his almsgiving, his devotion, and his lantern. Thence it passes to
a very inaccurate account of his eajly Danish wars, dwelling upon his
vision of St. Cuihbert at Athelney, up to the baptism of Guthrum 'whom
some call Gordon.']

§ 19. And here must we observe that all the kingdoms in England
having been united by Egbert, grandfather of Alfred, . . . stood firm
together till the fourth year of Ethelred son of Ethelwulf. In that year
did the Mercians, the Northumbrians, the East Angles, and the East
Saxons choose to support the enemy. . . . But Alfred, like a second
Mattathias, Judas Maccabaeus, and Jonathan, fought, for the Faith and

1 Our current numeration of the Edward's came up in the fourteenth century.
In earlier times the three before the Conquest were included, 'the Elder' being
Edward I., ' the Martyr' being Edward II., and 'the Confessor' Edward III.

^ This interesting phrase probably refers not to Alfred's Code, but to the
popular designation of his immediate kingdom ; in opposition to the Danelagh,
which comprised all the rest of England. See Introduction, p. 37.

* The Book of Hyde ' 221

his brethren, nine battles in one year against the Danes, who, as yet, were
heathen. And, at the last, by God's aid, his was the victory, and
he . . . brought under again all those kingdoms. . . . And Alfred was
the first King of England who would suffer no other King in the land
save himself alone. Egbert . . . brought under the other kingdoms, yet
suffered he their Kings to reign over them. Tribute he made them pay
him, but not to lay down their crowns, as . . . Alfred the Conqueror
would have them do. . . .

§ 20. [Here comes the appointment of the swineherd Denewulf to tVie
bishopric of Winchester, the Danish raid on Rochester, the restoration
of London, the mission to India, the campaigns of 894, Alfred's infirmity,
his death, and his Will (in Anglo-Saxon, Latin, and fourteenth-century
English).]!

All things being thus set in order, the Most Christian King Alfred,
who had fought so many a battle with the Danes ; who had bravely and
stoutly undergone, for the freedom of his country, so many a danger ;
. . . who feared not the Prince [of this World] ; Alfred, the heroic
chieftain, Alfred the rampart of the nation, Alfred the strength of his
people, . . . yielded unto death. Illustrious was he, and the dread of all
his foes; for on his goings shone the Light of God.

§ 21. His royal corpse was first entombed ... in the cathedral of
Winchester. But afterwards (through the folly of the Canons . . . who
gave out that his ghost wandered at night through their dwellings) . . .
his son Edward removed his bones and laid them in the New Minster.
This was, at that time, hard by the Old Minster. But in the days of that
glorious prince, Henry the Elder [z.^., the First], it was moved unto Hyde,
beyond the northern gate of Winchester. And there now lieth Alfred, of
blessed memory . . . having died in the Year of Grace 901.

§ 22. In the same year the aforesaid Edward . . . was crowned King
of England at Kingston. Less than his father was he in Letters, but
greater in renown, ... for he brought under the Kings of Scotland,
Cumberland and Wales to his sway. . . . This King had his sons
instructed in Letters ; but his daughters, when their schooling was done,
set he to ply the spindle-whorP and the needle.

^ This document is generally admitted to be genuine, and is printed by Kemble
(Cod. Diplom. cccxiv.). Alfred, after reciting his title to his lands, leaves them
amongst his children and kin, those at Guildford and Godalming going to his
nephew Elhelbald Clito (see p. 15). To his sons he gives also ^^500 apiece
(equivalent to about ;^i 5,000 now), to his daughters ;!{^ioo, and to his widow,
Elswitha, who likewise gets Wantage, Lambourne, and Ethandune. Various
bequests follow to servants and friends ; four Bishops (Asser amongst them)
getting 100 mancuses (see p. T47) to give in alms ' for me and for my father.'
For ' 50 Mass-priests ' are left 100 shillings, and as much between the poor and
'the church of my burial.' Any bondsmen to whom he may have granted
freedom \cy7-elif\ are to remain free churls. ' And let all men seek, with a lively
Sacrifice {on cwicuin ceape], for the health of my soul.'

^ The spindle-whorl was a small round object, of stone or bone, pierced with a
hole, and used by the Anglo-Saxon women as a flywheel for their spindles. It
continued in use till the sixteenth century.

^zs?ej^j.!sz%^s.z's!V-A^.V4';^s^t*a^j:^^

-'yrsCTvy '^•'Tv. ■ -.\WA\sirv^.'t/~>,Tr---7

XIV.

THE CHRONICLE OF ST. NEOT'S.

[commonly called 'the annals of asser.']

THIS chronicle, its authorship, and its value, have long
been a standing crux in Alfredian literature. As-
signed to Asser by its earliest editor, Gale, it has
been commonly known as his 'Annals ' (from Julius Caesar to
A.D. 914). Asser's, however, it assuredly is not, if internal
evidence is to count for anything. Much, indeed, is copied,
and more abridged, from his * Deeds of Alfred '; but the
chronicler is a far better writer, less wordy, and much more
spirited and picturesque. To him we owe some of the best-
known legendary scenes in English history — that of the cakes,
for example, and the touching story of Bede's last hours.
And he is by no means the late and worthless authority that
most modern writers on Alfred are apt to hold him. His
style, and his tendency to air Greek learning, ^.^., his descrip-
tion of the Danish slaughter of infants as * achemenia rabies,'
and specially his use of ' Theophmiia! for the * Twelfth-night '
of the A.S. Chronicle {^7^), would seem to point to the
tenth or beginning of the eleventh century as his most pro-
bable date.

This period is also suggested by the panegyric on Norman
sanctity (§ 7), Normandy having this reputation specially
under Duke Richard the Good (997-1028), at whose Court
Edward the Confessor received his education.

Gale's edition is from a MS. of the twelfth or thirteenth

I

The Chronicle of St. Neofs 223

century in the Library of Trinity College, Cambridge, bearing
(in a sixteenth-century hand) — the title ' Asserii Annales.'

Leland mentions finding the work in the Church of St.
Neot's (Hunts), and calls it ' Chronicon Fani Neoti.'

The following extracts are given :

SECTION

2. Of Edmund, King of East Anglia.

SECTION

10. Alfred's vision of St. Neot.

4. Of Ingwar and Hubba. j ii. The vision of Charles the Emperor.

6. Edmund's answer to Ingwar. I 13. Alfred's death.

2 24 Alfred in the Chroniclers

THE CHRONICLE OF ST. NEOT'S.

§ I. The chronicler's first entry during Alfred's lifetime is of the Danish
invasion of 851 ; the Battle of Wembury ' against the Heathen Norsemen
\Nordima7inos\ or Danes'; their wintering 'in the Isle called Sheppey';
their sack of London, ' a city on the march of Essex and Middlesex, but
in very truth pertaining to Essex'; and their crushing defeat at Ockley.
All is from Asser, as is also the notice, which follows, of Alfred's journey
to Rome, his father's wedding, and the story of Edburga.

From Asser, too, come the transaciions of the reigns of Ethelbald and
Ethelbert, the Danish conquest of Northumbria, and the siege of Notting-
ham.

§ 2. * In the year of our Lord's Incarnation 870, there suffered St.
Edmund, King of the East Angles, most holy and acceptable unto God.
Edmund, sprung from the high-born stock of the ancient Saxons, was,
from his earliest years, the truest of Christians. Offspring of the Kings
of old \atavis editits regibiis\ he showed himself of such promise that,
by the unanimous goodwill of all his fellow-countrymen, he was — not so
much chosen by right of birth, as — rushed into supreme power and king-
ship over them. For his very look was worthy of this high estate ; so
bright was it with the calm beauty of holiness, and of a conscience like
the sea at rest. Kind he was of speech and courteous to all ; the grace
of humility came natural to him ; and amongst his own comrades he
kept his place \residebat\ as their Lord, with wondrous meekness, and no
touch of pride. For already the Saint bare in his face that which he was
afterwards, by God's will, to show forth ; seeing that as a boy he had
pressed, with all his might, into the Way of Righteousness, which, as
God's pity foreknew, would end for him in the Way of Martyrdom.

§ 3. ' And when the Blessed Edmund reached the kingship, such was
his goodness to his subjects, such his strict justice towards evil-doers,
that we may not declare it, for it is far beyond any words of ours. For
so did he temper the wisdom of the serpent with the harmlessness of the
dove, that no deceit of the Old Enemy might blind him ; nor would he
accept the unjust sentences of wicked men ; for that which he knew not,
with all diligence sought he out. And walking in the King's Highway
\yia Regia\ he turned aside neither to the right hand, by being puffed up
with his own merits, nor to the left, by yielding to the faults of human
weakness. To the needy, moreover, was he a cheerful giver, to widows
and orphans the kindest of Patrons ; ever keeping before his eyes the
saying of the Wise Man, " Behold, they have made thee Prince ; be not
up-lifted ; but be thou amongst them even as one of themselves."

§ 4. ' And seeing that he shone out, in Christ and His Church, with such
brightness of good deeds, the Enemy of mankind (who, being himself
void of goodwill, grudgeth, all the more, at the good) drew nigh to make
trial of his patience as of the holy Job. Therefore raised he up one of

The Chronicle of St. Neofs 225

his [Satan's] members as an adversary against him, to strip him bare on
every side, if perchance he might provoke him to break out into impa-
tience, and, in his despair, to curse God to His face. And this same
adversary was by name Ingwar [Hinguar] ; who, with another, called
Hubba, a fellow of like perversity, strove (had not God's mercy hindered)
utterly to exterminate every province in Britain. . . . Neither could any
man in any province stop or stay their misdeeds, for by the well-deserved
wrath of God grew they and multiplied, and Hubba was the minister of
His justice. . . . Craftily would he steal into a city, and. ere the towns-
folk knew it, give all to the flames. Boys and men, old and young, did this
cut-throat hew down in the open street, and of the honour of matron and
maiden made he mock. There lay husband and wife, dead or dying,
together on their own threshold ; and, to heighten the horror, the babe
snatched from the mother's bosom was slaughtered before the mother's eyes.

§ 5. ' And when now by multitudinous massacre he had, not indeed
satiated his achaemenian^ ravening, but deferred it, through fatigue, to the
morrow, he called certain plebeians, whom he thought unworthy of his
sword, and diligently inquired of them where their King might, as then,
be living.'

Here follows the account of the message of Ingwar told by Roger of
Wendover (§ 7), Edmund's answer being somewhat expanded as follows:

§ 6. ' The Almighty Judge of all things is my witness, that, whether in
death or life, none shall separate me from the love of Christ. The troth-
plight \annuluni\ of His Faith took I on in the confession of Baptism, to
renounce the Devil and all his pomps. And thereby was I found worthy
to be hallowed to the praise and glory of the Eternal Trinity, and that in
three-fold wise, being anointed with Holy Chrism unto everlasting life.
First when at the Font I received the garment of Salvation ; secondly in
the yet higher sealing \inajusculo signaculo\ of the Bishop at Confirmation ;
thirdly when, by the common acclaim of all my people, I took up the
duties of my Kingship. And, thus triply bedewed with the unction of
mystic hallowing, have I vowed rather to serve than sway \J>rodesse quajn
prceesse] the commonwealth of England \A7tglorum reipublicce\ and scorn
to bow me beneath any yoke save that of God's service only.'

§ 7. Edmund's martyrdom is given as in Roger of Wendover (p. 185),
with an elaborate comparison of his passion to that of our Lord. The
finding of his head is also as in Roger. Next follow the invasion of Wessex,
the Battles of Reading and Ashdown, the death of Ethelred, the accession
of Alfred, the Battle of Wilton, and the Danish evacuation of Wessex, all
from Asser. From him too we have their conquest of Mercia and
Northumbria, and their seizing of Cambridge, Wareham and Exeter.

§ 8. Here is brought in the Dream of Rollo (as in John of Brompton,
§ 22), with a theological explanation. ' For in that he saw all that land burst

^ This curious phrase seems to be an allusion to the story of Cyrus, son of
Achsemenes, whose bloodthirstiness forms the subject of a well-known classical
legend.

15

226 Alfred in the C/u^omclers

into blossom, this was the call of the Divine Pity, that he might win that
land, and that under him and his children it might glow with the flowers
of many a virtue and of true religion,' His conquest of Normandy is next
detailed, and his conversion. ' Then was he instructed in the Scriptures
of our Divine Religion ; and, little by little, began he to delight therein,
even as the Holy Spirit moved his heart. Thus at length was he washed
in the Sacrament of Regeneration, to the knowledge of God ; and all his
host in like manner, by his example, brightened out into white apparel,
and took their stand on the Faith.' A long panegyric on the zeal and
devotion of Norman Christianity seems to point to the early years of the
eleventh century, when their reputation in this respect stood very high,
as the probable date of this passage.

§ 9. The overrunning of Wessex in 878 by the Danes is given from
Asser and the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, with the interesting translation of
' Twelfth Night' into the Greek Theopha7iia. Next we come to the story
of the Cakes (transcribed into Asser on p. 98), of which this chronicle is
probably the earliest extant source ; also the Danish defeat in Devon,
and the rising of the English, verbatim from him.

§ 10. On the night before the Battle of Ethandune, while Alfred slumbered,
' there showed unto him an apparition \effigies\ in the likeness of St. Neot,
erst his own dear friend and kinsman, and bade him " Cast away all fear
and dread of the Barbarians, neither be of faint heart because of their
multitude. For to-morrow will the Lord visit thee and thy people, seeing
that for the arrogance of thy youth hast thou suffered all this trouble.
Yea, to-morrow," added he, " will I go on all daylong before thy banners,
that the more surely thou mayest fight against thy foes, fearing nought ;
and mayest know that the Lord Almighty fighteth for thee and for thy
people." Thereupon up woke the King, gladdened indeed by the heavenly
vision.'

§ II. The baptism of Guthrum, the Peace of Wedmore, the Danish
invasion of Gaul, and Alfred's rebuilding of London, ifoUow as in Asser.
After this the chronicler dwells upon a remarkable vision of Purgatory
beheld by the Emperor Charles IIL ; wherein, guided by a shining clue,
he sees wordly-minded ecclesiastics immersed in pits of scalding ' pitch,
sulphur, lead, wax, and grease.' The wrong-doing laity were plunged,
' some to the crown of the head, some to the chin, some to the waist,' in
molten metal ; and his own predecessors on the throne in boiling water,
whence every other day they were transferred to cold water, * through the
prayers of the Saints. " And if thou and thy faithful Bishops, and Abbots,
and churchmen of every degree, wilt but help me with Masses, Oblations,
Psalmody, Vigils, Prayers, and Almsdeeds, eftsoon shall I be wholly freed
from this vessel of boiling water." '

§ 12. The campaigns of 893 and the following years are abridged from
the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, with the additional touch that Hasting and
his followers in the end ' were fain to cross again the sea, without money
and without honour.'

TJie Chronicle of St. Neo£s

227

§ 13. ' In the year 900 Alfred the Truth-teller,^ that keenest of all
warriors, that noblest of all Kings of Wessex, prudent, religious, of excel-
lent wisdom, this year to the great grief of his people went the way of all
flesh, on the 8th of the Kalends of November, in the 29th year of his
reign, and the 51st of his age, in the 3rd Indiction. And in the royal
city of Winchester was he buried meetly, with all kingly worship, in the
Church of St. Peter the Prince of the Apostles. And there too stands his
tomb \jnausole7n)t\ wrought of marble of porphyry most precious.'

^ Gale here prints veridictus^ but the MS. reading is veridicus.

15-

LM-Jtll-JL'^jt-/i-Jt-j--_)trn^iiJ'-i:-r.'TCj:-vuJ>.'Ji-jmLjp-jt-j^-^j-jiaL-itvi-3t';^

INDEX.

Abraham, 205

Adamnan^4 ,

Alcuin, 205

Alclud, 198

Aldfrid, 206

Alfred :

birth, 14, 85, 146, 191

childhood, 14, 90, 148, 204

Roman visit, 15, 86, 121, 134, 146,

162, 183, 217
education, 91, 204
marriage, 18, 92, 148
accession, 18, 95, 123, 136, 153, 180,

200, 218
infirmity, 17, 18, 103, 206, 217
reforms, 22, 117
versatility, 23, 46, 91, 104, 157, 165,

176, 204
favourite lines, 24, 149
at Athelney, 31, 98, 124, 138, 154,

164, 170, 186, 193, 202
cake-baking, 98
jewel, 32

creation of navy, 26, 44, 97, 130
military system, 42, 127
financial system, 60, 115
educational system, 46, 104
teachers, 48, 113, 156, 204, 218
code of laws, 63, 165, 194, 206, 220
almsgiving, 59, 60, 116, 158
devotion, 61, 105, 116
lantern, 61, 117

publications, 51, 143, 165, 181, 204
' Proverbs,' 71
death, 71, 80, 131, 143, 159, 166,

171, 176, 188, 206, 215, 219, 227
Will, 221

children, 'j'j, 104, 156, 206
titles :

'Truth-teller,' 119, 227

' Astronomer,' 179

' Conqueror,' 221

' Alms-doer,' 215

' Most Christian King,' 221

' England's darling,' 73, 176
Aire, 100, 125

Amesbury, 48, 108

Amiens, 125, 139

Anaraut, 107

Ancarig, 210

Anderida, 43

Andread's Weald, 41, 127, 141

Anglekin, 5, 8, 27, 126, 130, 131

Angles, I

Anglian kingdoms, 6

Anglican Church, 4

Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, 55

Anglo-Saxons, 15, 39, 107

Anno Domini, 80

Antenor, 190

Appledore, 41, 42, 127, 128, 141

Armagh, 206

Armlet, 26

Armorica, 102, 105

Arnulf, no, 127, 141

Arthur, i

Ashdown, Battle of, 20, 93, 94, 122, 136,

151, 152, 163, 199
Ash Wednesday, 69
Asker, 211
Asmund (also spelt Anwynd, Annuth,

Hammond, Osmund), 96, 123, 138, 153,

180, 209
Asser, 48, 204, 218
Assingdon, 132
Assumption, 69
Athelney, 31, 34, 99, 100, 113, 124, 125,

138, 139, 154, 164, 186, 193, 202, 203
Athelstan (King of Kent), 17, 18, 27, 29,

86, 121, 134, 136, 162, 183. 198
Athelstan (of Mercia), 106. 125, 157
Athelstan ( = Guthrum), 36, 125, 140, 103
Athelstan the Magnificent, 18, 28, 70, 2i8
Athens, 205
A.U.C., 80

St. Augustine of Hippo, 53
St. Augustine of Canterbury, 4, 38, 43,

198, 218
Augustus, 8
Austrasia, 127
Avon, River, 97
Azof, Sea of, 191

Index

229

Bagsceg (also spelt Beagseg and Oseg),

94, 122, 152, 209
Baldred (King of Kent), 190
Baldwin, 17
Hanwell, 48, 108
Baptism, 70

Bcirdney Abbey, 209, 214
St. Bariholomevv, 59, 125
Basileus, 6
Basing, Battle of, 21, 95, 123, 136, 152,

199
Battles :

A.D.

823. Kllandune, 7, 137
845. Pedredan, 137
851. Wembury, 85, 169

,, Sandwich, 86, 121

,, Ockley, 11, 86, 121, 137, i^6, 169
860. Winchester, 90, 121, 134, 147,

169
867. York, 92, 122, 135, 148, 178

870. Threekingham, 209

,, Thetford,93, 122, 135, 150, 170,

178, 184, 201

871. Englefield, 20, 93, 122, 136, 150,

179, 199

,, Reading, 20, 93, 122, 136, 15c,

179, 199

,, Ashdown, 20, 94, 122, 136, 151,

163, T99
,, Basing, 21, 95, 123, 152, 199
,, Merton, 21, 123, 136, 199
,, Wilton, 21. 95, 123, 136, 153,

180, 200

876. Swanage, 26, 97, 124
878. Kinwith, 33, 99, 124, 154, 180
,. Ethandune, 34, 100, 124, 139,

154, i8o, 194, 224
885. Stourmouth, loi, 125, 140, 156,

171
890. St. Lo, 127, 140, 181

894. Farnham, 42, 128, 142
,, Beamfieet, 128

,, Buttington, 42, 129, 142

895. Chichester, 43, 129

896. Coatbridge, 44, 130
Bavarians, 127, 141
Beadorices-wirth, 135
Beamfieet, 128, 139, 142

Bede, 4, 5. 53, 80, 165, 184, 191, 205

Bedford, 37

Bensington, 47

Beocca, 126

Beorngar, no

Beorhtric, 88, 197

Beornhelm, 126, 140

Beornwulf (also spelt Beorthulf and Bert-

wulf), 7, 86, 121, 169, 208
Berkshire, 85, 90, 93, 121, 135, 141, 147,

150, 169
Bertin, St., 218
Bessin, 29
Bettelin, St., 211
Bideford, 33
Boadicea, 12

Bocard, 200

Boethius, 24, 51, 158, 166, 204

Boston, 209

Boulogne, 40, 127, 141

Bourn, 209

Bracteate, 26

Brecon, 107

Bretons, 127

Bretwaldas, 3, 7, 8

Breviary, 16, 105, 166

Brickstane, 213

Bridgnorth, 130, 204

Bristol Channel, 33

Britain, 2, 8, 97, loi

Britain ( = Wales), 106, 107, 142

Britanny, n6, 127, 140, 181

British Empire, 7, 78

Britons, 4, 105, 123, 162

Brixton, 34

Brocmail, 107

Bruern, 178, 200

Bures, 183

Burglary, 68

Burghred (King of Mercia), 21, 86, 92,
96, 121, 122, 123, 126, 134, 135, i37>
146, 149, 162, 170, 179, 198, 201, 208

Buttington, 129, 142

Caerceri, 100

Caerleon, 205

Caerwisc, 97

Caesar, 8, 67

Cakes, 98

Cambridge, 12, 25, 47, 96, 123, 131, 138,

153. 154. i^So. 205
Canterbury, 11, 85, 121, 146, 169
Canute, 8, 132
Carisbrooke, 85
Carlisle, 198
Carloman, 102, 126
Carnelia, 198
Carthage, 126
Cealwin, 85
Cecilia, St., 213
Ceolnoth, 93
Ceolwulf (or Colwulf), 96, 123, 124, 137,

153, 170, 201, 215
Ceorl, 85, 169
Cerdic, 85, 163
Cerne Abbey, 198

Charlemagne, 6, 8, 88, 102, 126, 140, 205
Charles the Bald, 15, 87, 102, 121, 126,

134, 140, 147, 158, 162, 198, 226
Charles the Fat, 102, no, 126, 140, 203
Charnwood, 142
Chester, 43, 129, 201, 203
Chester-le-Street, 155, 186
Ch^zy, no, 126, 140, 181
Chichester, 43, 130. 139, 203
Chippenham, 29, 35, 36, 97, 100, 125,

138, 139, 154, 155, 170, 200, 202
Chrism-loosing, 36, 100, 125
Chronology, 80
Church of England, 4
Church-frith, 69, 70

230

Alfred hi the Chroniclers

Church-scot, 70

Churl. 68

Cirencester, 36, 100, toi, 125, 139, 155,

202
Cissa, 211

Clergy, status of, 47
Clifford, Bishop, 119
Coatbridge, 44, 130
Codes, 63
Ccit-miwr, 34, 99
Coldingham, 184
College, ICnglish, at Rome, 79
Colne, River, 128, 142
Combwich, 119
Comet, 127
Commandments, 64
Conde, lor, 125, 139
Conversion of England, 3
Coran Colbe, 179

Cornwall, 6, 17, 103, it6, 127, 142, 192
Coutances, 29
Cricklade, 205
Crowland, 184, 208-215
Cumbria, 78, 137, 221
Cuthbert, 31, 153, 154, 163, 186, 191
Cuthred (or Guthfrid), 186, 191
Cynnic, 85

Dacia, 200
Dacians, 197, 204
Danes :

first coming, 5

early invasions, 10, 162, 168, 190,

197, 203
first winter, 10, 85, 169
sack London, 11, 85, 121
sack Winchester, 86, 121, 134, 147,

169
harry Kent, 90, 121, 135
invade East Anglia, 12, 90, 122, 148,

170, 178
invade Northumbria, 91, 122, 134,

148, 178, 184, 208
invade Mercia, 11, 92, 122, 149, 170,

179, 208
conquer East Anglia, 93, 122, 150,

170, 179, 184, 191, 225
invade Wessex, 11, 93, 122, 135, 150,

163, 179, 199
conquer Mercia, 21, 96, 123, 137,

153, 170, 180, 191, 201, 215
conquer Northumbria, 25, 96, 123,

137. 153. 170. 191
sack Crowland, 212
take Cambridge, 25, 96, 123, 138,

153. 180

take Wareham, 26, 96, 124, 138, 154
take Exeter, 26, 97, 124, 138, 154
take Chippenham, 29, 97, 124, 138,

154, 170, 202
take Gloucester, 138

overrun Wessex, 29, 97, 124, 138,

192
lose at Ethandune, 34, 100, 124, 139,

154, 194. 201

Danes {continued) :

invade France, 40, loi, 125, 139,
155, 181, 187, 202

attack Rochester, loi, 125, 139, 156,
203

return to England, 40, 127, 141, 164,
181, 187

lose at Farnham, 42, 128, 142
,, Buttington, 129, 142
,, Chester, 43, 129, 203
,, Coatbridge, 44, 130, 204

break up, 44, 130, 204
Danelagh, 37, 220
David, 45
Dean, 106
Decuries, 206
Dee, River, 88
Deeping, 209
Demetia, 99, 107, 154
Denewulf, 47, 175, 202
Denmark, 5, 90, 148, 170
Derby, 21, 77, 136
Deva, 43
Devil's Dyke, 12
Devon, 33, 42, 43, 85, 97, 99, 124, 128,

129, 138, 154, 169, 180
Dionysius, St., 160
Dionysius Exiguus, 80
Dog-bite, 68
Dorchester, 47
Dorset, 96, 201
Dorubernia, 85, 93
Dublin Review, 79
Dubslane, 127, 141
Dunwich, 185

Eadburgh (of Mercia), 92

Eadburgh, Queen, 88

Ealdseaxum, 102

Ealhere (Alderman of Kent), 86, 121

Ealhstan, or Alstan (Bishop of Sher-
borne), 87, 92, 147, 162, 184, 217

Eanwulf (Alderman of Somerset), 87

Eardulf, Bishop, 153

East Anglia, 6, 7, 12, 21, 44, 90, 91, 93,
loi, 122, 125, 127, 129, 130. 131, T35,

137. 139. 140. 141. 142, 148, 150, 170.

178, 191, 198, 203, 204
Easter, 4
East Kent, 127
Ebrauc, 218
Echpse, loi
Edgar, King, 6, 28
Edington, 34, 100, 119, 124
Edith, St., 218
Edmund Etheling, 104
Edmund Ironside, 132
Edmund, St., 12, 93, 122, 135, 142, 150,

174, 179, 183-185, 191, 198, 200, 224
Edred, Abbot, 153
Edward the Confessor, 220
Edward the Elder, 6, 28, 37, 42, 46, 77,

104, 131, 132, 142, 156, 159, 181, 206,

221
Edward the Martyr, 220

Index

231

Edward III., 220

Edwold. 198

Egbert. Kin?, 6-9. 11, 39, 85. 134, 137,

178, 183, 18 [, 190, T97. 217, 220
Egbert, St. (ot Crowland), 211
Egbert (of Kent), 205

Egbert (of Northunibria). 184

Egbert's stone, 3},, 09, 124, \~^\

Eginhard, 8

Egmund, 213

Ivlbe, 126

Elfrida (or Ealfthrid), 104, 156, 206

Elgiva (or Ethelgifu), 104. 115, 156, 158,

203
Ella, 92, 122, 148, 178, 190
Ella Cross, 179
Ellandune, 7, 137
EUingham, 7
Elmham, 183-185

E'switha (Queen of England), 206, 22 r
Elswitha (Queen of Mercia), 126, 140
Ely, 12, 39, 184, 198, 214
Emma, 220
Empire, British, 7, 78
Empire, Roman, 6, 7
Encheiridion, iii
England, name of 5, 7-9
Englefield, Battle of, 20, 93, 122, 150,

179, 199

English School at Rome, i5, 79, 96, 102,
123, 126, 137, 140, 156, 162, 192, 217

English College, 79

Ermenilda, St., 201

Erpwald, 205

Esks, 44, 130

Essex, 6, 42, 43, 86, 128, [29, 134, 170,
178, 190

Ethandune, 34, loo, 119, 124, 139, 154,

180, 201, 221

Ethelbald, King, 16, 17, 86-90, 121, 134,

135, 146, 147, 162, 168, 169, 178, 183,

184, 193, 198, 208, 217
Ethelbert, King, 90, 91, 134, 135, 147,

148, 169, 178, 190, 198, 199, 208, 217
Ethelbert (of Kent), 63
Etheldred, 39
Etheifled (or Elfleda), 'j'], 104, 156, 203,

206
Ethelfrith (of Northumbria), 43
Ethelhelm (or Athelm), no, 126, 129,

140, 142
Etheling, 87
Ethelnoth (of Somerset), 129, 138, 139,

142, 143
Ethelred, King, 12, 20, 21, 90-95, 121-

123. 135-137, 142, 148-152, 163, 169,

170, 179, 190, 191, 198, 199, 200, 208,

217, 220
Ethelred (of Mercia), "jj, 107-109, 128,

129, 140, 142, 156, 171, 203
Ethelred Muckle, 92, 149
Ethelred (of Northumbria), 190
Ethelred the Unready, 44, 70, 220
Ethelwald, 15, 132, 221
Ethelward, 104, 156, 206

Ethelwulf, King (or Adulf), 11, 15, 16,
85-89, 121, 126, 134, 136, 140, 146, 147,
162, 163, 168, 169, 178, 183, 184, 190,
197, 208, 217

Ethelwulf (of Berks), 90, 93, 121, 122,
136, 147. 150. 151. 169, 179, 199

Ethelwulfing, 123, 180

Exe, River, 97

ICxeter, 26, 28, 29, 48, 97, 108, 124, 128,
130, 138, 15 J, 200, 202, 203

Exmoor, 30

Farnham, Battle of, 42, 128, 142

Fee-boot, 67

Felix, St., 205

Fernmail, 107

Flanders, 17, 40

Fleam Dyke, 12

Formosus, Pope, 203

Forth, River, 4, 6

France, 6, 40, loi, 141, 181

BYanco, Archbishop, 202

Frankland, 125

Franks, loi, 105, 139

Franks, East, 102, 141

Franks, West, 108

Frena, 94, 122, 152

Friday, 218

Frisians, 44, 79, 102, 105, 131, 168

Frome, River, 96

Fulco, Archbishop, 218

Fulham, 40, 100, 125, 139, 203

Gaimar, 55

Gaini, 92, 149

Gainsborough, 92

Galloway, 4, 180

Gang-days, 69

Gaul, 106, 116, 138-140

Gauls, 102, 105

Gedney, 210

Genevieve, 40

Germans, 102

Germanus, St., 109

Germany, 41, 102

Ghent, loi, 125, 139

Gildas, 109

Glastonbury, 17, 30, 119

Gleguising, 107

Gloucester, 138, 139

Godalming, 221

Godric, 213

Gordon, 220

Goths, 85, 163, 191, 197

Grantchester, 205

Gregory, St., 3, 55, 69, 106, 157, 165

Grimbald, 106, 109, 204, 218

Grimketyl, 213

Grimsby, 178

Gueryr, St., 103, 205

Guildford, 221

Guthfrid. See Cuthred

Guthlac, St., 208-211

Guthrum (or Godrim), 36, 37, 40, 96, 100,

123, 125, 126, 138, 140, 153, 15s, 180,

186, 192, 198, 203, 209

232

Alfred ift the Chroniclers

Guy, no

Gwent, 107

Hadrian, Pope, 4

Haereihi-land, 5

Hailesdon Wood, 185

Haitheby, 163

Halfdene (or Healfdene), 96, 97, 99, 122

124, 137, 138, 153, 154, 170, 180, 209
Hammond, 209
Hampshire, 7, 34, 90, 99, 121, 124, 134,

141, 147, 154, 169
Hanbury, 201
Handbook, Alfred's, 17, 50, 91, no,

III, 166
Hardecnut, 191
Harding, 209
Harold, 94, 122, 152
Hasting, 41, 44, 127, 128, 141, 142, 181,

187
Heahmund, 123
Hedda, 212
Hedgehog, 179
Helised, 107
Helmstan, 217
Hemid, 107

Henry I. (' the Elder'), 221
Henry V., 86
Heptarchy, 4, 6
Herbert, 213
Hexham, 186
Hibernia, 141
Hide, 68
Hide-gild, 67
Hilda, St., 184
Hildebrand, t6
Hind. 68
Holidays, 69
Holland, 209, 213
Holy Thursday, 69
Howel, 107
Hubba (or Ubba), 33, 99, 122, 124, 169,

i8o, 191, 198-200, 209, 211, 212,225
Hubba-stone (or Ubbelaw), 33, iSo, 200
Humber, 6, 7, 25, 91, 122, 135, 178
Humbert, Bishop, 183, 184
Hundreds, 68, 165, 206
Hunting-field, 23, 91
Hwiccas, 100, 202
Hyde, 216, 221

Iceland, 26
Iceni, 12

Icknield Street, t2

Iglea, 124

Imperialism, 7

Ina, King, 63. 79, 85, 217

Incense. 48, 108

India, 59, 125. 165

Indiction. 160, 176

Ingulf, 207

Ingwar (or Hinguar, or Ivvar). 99, 122,

138, 154. 169, 170, t8o, 184, 191, 198,

199, 209. 225
Innocent III., Pope, 79

Ireland, 4. 112, 116, 127
Italy, 15, 126

Jarrow, 184

Jerome, St., 53

Jerusalem, 59, 112

Jewel, Alfred's, 32

John. King, 28

John Scot (l'>igena), 106, 114, 159, 165,

204, 218
John, St., Knights of, 79
jornandes, 163
Judas Maccabaeus, 20, 151
Judith, 15-17, 87-89. 102, 126, T47. 162,

181, 183, 198, 208
Julius Coesar, 45
Jutes, 6, 8

Kennet, River, 93. 150

Kent, 6, 7, 17. 37, 41, 85. 90. iot, 121,
169, 171, 184, 190, 203
j Kentigern, 109
I Kesteven, 209, 210
I Killevy, 206

Kineburgh, St.. 212

Kingston, 6, 221

Kinswith, St., 212

Kinwith (or Cynuit, or Cynwith), 33, 99,

119- 154

Lambourne, 221

Langtoft, 209

Latin, 46, 104, 106, 143, 205

Laws, 63, 165, 194, 206, 220

Lea, River, 37, 43, 130, 204

Lechlade, 205

Leicester, j']

Leigh, 100

Lent, 69

Leo IV., Pope, 15, 16, 79, 86, 121, 134,

146, 162, 174. 183, 190, 214, 217
Leonine City, 15, 79
Lethwyn, 211
Lid-wiccas, 126, 140
Limne, River, 41

Limne-mouth, 127,128, 130, 142, 181,204
Limne ( = Lynn), 142
Lincoln, 47, 198, 209
Lindisfarne. 5, 153, 184
Lindsey, 96, 123, 137, 198, 201, 209
Linford, 108
Liskeard, 103
Lodbroc, 33. 99, 184, 200
Lombardy, no
London :

stormed by Danes, 11, 85, 121, 169,
174, 191, 203

occupied. 21, 25, 59,96, 123, 125, 153,
170, 180, 200, 201

rebuilt by Alfred, 37, 38, 109, 126,
140, 171

in later wars, 128, 130, 137, 142, 204
Lord's Day, 69
Lorraine, 41
Lothaire, 41

I

Index

233

Louis I., 102, 126, 140
Louis II.. 102, 126, 140
Louis III., 102, 125
Louvain, 139
Lynn, 142, 143

Macbeth, 127, 141

Maccabees, 20, 151

Maclean, 127, 140

Maese, River, 125, 139

Mceotid Marsh, 191

Malmesbury, 160

Mancus, 89, 147, 221

Marinus, Pope, 59, 79, 102, 126, 140,

156, 165
Marks, 3

Marne River, 126, 140
Matilda, 132, 136
Maurice, 107, 209
Medehampstead, 211, 213
Mediterranean, 15, 102, 126
Medway, River, loi
Melkin, 109
Menevia, 204
Mercia, 6-8, 21, 37, 93, 96, 97, 121-123,

135-138, 142, 150, 153, 170, 190
Mercian law, 63, 194
Mersey, 129, 130, 142, 203
Merton, 21, 123, 136, 199
Meuse, River, loi
Middlesex, 86, 134, 174
Midlands, 193
Milton (or Middleton), 41, 42, 127, 141,

187
Minster, 85

Modwenna, St., 206, 217
M or car, 209

Navy, 26, 28, 130

Nedestock, 192

Nene, River, 212

Nennius, 109

Neot, St., 17, 27,29, 35, 86, 98,. 103, 192,

193, 204, 205, 2i8, 226
Neustria, 202
New Year's Day, 80
Newmarket, 12
New Minster, 221
Nicolas I., Pope, 160
Nile. Battle of, 28
Norfolk, 6

Normandy, 40, 97; 124, 140, 154, 202
Norsemen, 168, 224
Northumbria, 6-8, 21, 92, 93, 96, 107,

122-124, 127, 129, 137, 142, 148, 149,

153, 170, 198, 208
North Angles, 140
Norway, 5
Norwegians, 197
Nottingham, 12, 'j'j, 92, 122, 135, 149, 170,

179, 198, 208

Obizzo, 132

Ockley, 11, 15, 86, 121, 137, 146, 169

Oda, no

Offa, King, 8, 10, 63, 86, 88, 162

Offa's Dyke. 88

Orosius, 53, 165

Osbern, 94, 122

Osbert, 92, 94, 122, 135. 148, 178, 190

Osburga, 16. 85, 146, 217

Oscytel, 96, 123, 138, 153, 209

Oseg. 199

Osgot, 209

Oslac. 85, 146

Osmund. See Asmund

Osric (or Oswald), Alderman of Hants,

90, 121, 134, 147, 169
Oswy, 7
Osyth, St., 218
Othere, 53
Otho. 132

Oxford. 47, 109, 204, 220
Ouse, 18, 37

Padua, 89, 126

Pancras, St., i6o

Pantaleone, St., 79

Paris, 38, 108, 109, 126, 140, 171, 194, 203,

205
Parker, Archbishop, 120
Parret, River, 31, 129
Paschal I., Pope, 79
Paulinus, 213
Pedredan, 137
Pen Forest, 180
Pennine Hills, 6
Pepin. 102, 126, T40
Peterborough, 12, 184, 211, 213, 214
Peter-pence, 197
Picts, 4, 123, 137, 180
Plato. 205
Plegmund, Archbishop, 106, 127, 156,

203
Poldre, 141
Polesworth, 218
Psalms, i66
Psalter (Alfred's), 166
Pythagoras, 205

Quadrivium, 205

Ramsey, 184

Raphael, 79

Raven flag, 33, 99, 124, 180

Ravenna, 53

Reading, 12, 20, 21. 93, 122, 123, 135-137.

150. 170, 179, 180. 199
Redwald. 205
Remigius, 218

Repton, 25, 96, 123, 137, 138, 153, 201
Rheims, 218
Rhine, 40, no, 119
Rhone, 40
Ricsy, 185

Rochester, loi, 125, 128, 139, 156, 203
Rodri, 107
RoUo, 40. 97, 124. 153, 191. 192, 194, 201,

202. 225
Roman era, 80

234

Alfred in the Chroniclers

Roman Empire, 6-8

Rome, 6, 7, 15-17, 21, 58, 59, 85, 87, 89.
96, 121, 126, 134, 137, 140, 146, 153, 156,
162, 163, 165, 183, 184, 203, 205, 208

Rome-scot, 217

Rouen, 202

Royal titles, 8

Rudolf, no •

Ruim, 86

Ryhall, 209

Sacrilege, 69

St. Benet's (Cambridge), 131

St. David's, 48, 107, 204

St. Ives, 78

St. Lo, 127, 140, 181

St. Neot's, 18, 78

St. Paul's (Rome), 147, 198

St. Peter's (Rome), 86, 89, 147, 198

Salamis, 33

Sanctuary, 69

Sandwich, 121

Saracens, 15

' Sarauara,' 139

Sassenach, 8

Saxon name, 7

Saxons, 2, 140

old, 102, 119, 126, 137, 140

East, 121

South, 121 '

West, 124
Saxony, 106
Scaetta, 70
Scanzia, 163, 191
Sceaf, 163

Scheldt, River, loi, 125, 139
Scotland, 25, 221
Scots, 4, 78, 96, 105
Seaford, 73
Seals, 87
Seine, River, 44, 108, "126, 140, 171, 192,

203, 204
Selwood, 34, 99, 124, 129, 154, 202
Severn, 42, 44, 106, 129, 130, 142, 204
Severn Sea, 78
Shaftesbury, 115, 158, 203
Sheppey, 12, 85, 87, 134, 146
Sherborne, 87, 90, 92, 121, 135, 147, 163,

165, 169, 178, 184, 203, 217
Shield-wall, 150, 152
Shires, 220
Shoebury, 129

Sidroc, 94, 122, 152, 179, 209, 211, 212
Sigbert, 205
Sigelin, 165
Sighelm, 125
Siward, 208, 211
Sleswick, 163
Somerset, 34, 97, 99, 124, 138, 154, 201,

202, 214
Somerled (or Summerlede), 180, 199
Somme, River, 125, 139
South Wales, 33, 107
Spindle-whorl, 221
Stamford, 77, 142, 209

Stane Street, 11

Strathclyde, 78, 96, 153

Streph, 163

Succession, 15

Suffolk, 6

Summer-lead, 10, 123, 180

Sunday, 69

Surrey, 7, 11, 86, 121, 146, 147, 169, 190

Sussex, 6, 7, II, 37, 131, 134, 147, 169,

178, 190
Sutton, 210

Swanage, 26, 28, 97, 124, 138, 180
Swedes, 168, 197
Swithun, St., 121, 162, 183, 190, 217

Tatwin, 211

Tees, River, 186

Tewkesbury, 202

Thames, 6, 11-13, 21, 38, 40-42, 85, 93,

100, 121, 127-130, 139, 142, 150, 169,

175, 181, 204
Thanes, 48, 68

Thanet, 11, 85, 86, 90, 121, 134
Theodore (of Tarsus), 4
Theodore (of Crowland), 210, 212
Theodoric, 53
Theophania, 226
Theow, 69

Thetford, 93, 122, 135, 150, 170, 184, 199
Thomas, St., 59, 125, 165
Thorney Island, 142
Thorney Abbey, 184, 210, 212, 213
Threekingham, 209
Tibba, 212
Tissa, 213
Tithes, 115, 208
Tithings, 206
Tolius, 209, 210
Tone, River, 31
Toretus, 210, 213
Torksey, 123, 137
Transvaal, 71
Trent, River, 96
Trojans, 190
Tunbert, 202
Turgar, 211-213
Tubba, 211

Tyne, River, 96, 123, 137, 153, 186
Tynemouth Abbey, 184
Tyrrhenian Sea, 59, 102, 112, 140
Twyford, 179

University, 205
Universal Church, 220
Universal Pontiff, 89

Vandals, 126, 168, 197
Vatican, 15, 79
Verus Annus, 80
Vikings, 171

Wales, 39, 86, 116, 221
Wallingford, 38, 47
Walter of Monmouth, 205
Wantage, 14, 85, 146, 221
Ware, 43

Index

235

Wareham, 25, 26, 96, 124, 138, 180, 202

Watling Street, 37

Weald, II

Wearmouth, 184, 191

Wedmore, 40, 100, 125, 139

Welland, River, 142

Welsh, 4

Wembury, 85, 169, 224

Wendel Sea, 126

Werburga, St., 201

Werfrith, 106, 157, 204

Wer-gild, 37

Werwulf, 106, 157

Wessex, 6-8, 12, 20-22, 25, 28, 116, 122,

134, 150. 199
West Angles, 134, 193
West Saxons, 135
West-Saxona-Laga, 220
Westbury, 34, 100
Western empire, 40
Whitby, 21, 184
Wight, 85

William I., 38, 197

Wilton, Battle of, 21, 95, 123, 153, 180,

200, 202
Wiltshire, 34, 97, 99, no, 124, 154, 201
Wily, River, 95

Wimborne, 21, 95, 123, 180, 200
Winchester (or Winton), 12, 47, 90, 107,

109, 121, 131, 134, 143, 147, 159, 166,

169, 178, 199, 206, 215, 221
Wirral, 43, 129
VV^istley Green, 179
Witan, 64
Woden, 163, 218
Wodensday, 218
Worcester, 106

Yarmouth, 181
Yonne, River, no, 126
York, 12, 122, 135, 142, \i.

198, 208, 218
Yorkshire, 184
Yule, 69

170, 178,

THE END.

Elliot Stock, 62, Paternoster Row, London, E.C.

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